FREE HIT - An IPL 2020 talk show with Boria Majumdar: ICC Hall of Famer Lisa Sthalekar
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00:00The BCCI announced the WIPL and the number of matches. We are seeing the WBDL going ahead in
00:06Australia. What is your take on this? I mean, yes, it is not ideal. We do not want a clash.
00:16Hello and welcome to this special edition of Free Hitter on Gulf News. And today I've got somebody
00:21who we've got to celebrate. We've got to celebrate on this show because she's just
00:26been inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame and one of the legends of the women's game,
00:32Lisa Thalekar. Welcome to the show. And firstly, many, many congratulations. Tell me your first
00:38feeling when you got the news of this induction into the ICC's Hall of Fame.
00:42Thanks very much for having me on the show today. I was, to be honest, very shocked.
00:51Felt that I was still quite young and not only just retired from the game and that there were
00:56probably plenty of other females that deserve the honor, but certainly humbled by the recognition.
01:02Do you think that this, you know, this induction of yours and also the fact that finally we are
01:09seeing more and more women getting recognized will actually give a flip to the women's game?
01:14You can see that there is certainly a trend in acknowledgement. So, obviously, the ICC Cricket
01:21Hall of Fame only started in 2009 and the first female was 2010. So, they've had one every year,
01:27I think, bar one year. But Catherine Fitzpatrick was inducted last year and I was actually there
01:36attending ICC meetings and saw her and congratulated her. Maybe the pandemic has
01:41made us all more acutely aware of what's going on around the world, but certainly I've received
01:46a lot of love and support, especially on social media, on all the different platforms. And it's
01:53been really nice to receive so many messages from so many different people across the globe.
01:58In fact, I can tell you this, I don't know if I should say, I was part of the Nominations Committee
02:02and all of us nominated you unanimously. Whether it's Claire Connor, whether it's myself, whether
02:06it's Jeff Allardyce, who was deputizing for the ICC CEO, whether it was Anil Kumble, all of us
02:12nominated you unanimously. So, that's something I'm putting on record for the first time.
02:17You were a favourite. One thing that the whole world, and I had a bit of a
02:22spat on Twitter with Elisa Healy on this, though it wasn't meant to be a spat at all.
02:26The BCCI announced the WIPL and the number of matches. We are seeing the WBBL going ahead in
02:33Australia. What is your take on this? I mean, yes, it is not ideal. We do not want a clash,
02:38but from the standpoint of India, only a handful of our girls have WBBL contracts,
02:43and if the BCCI did not do it, it would then be accused, oh, you know what, you're doing it in
02:47Dubai, but you're ignoring the women's game. It is not ideal in any way, but what is your take on
02:53this for this particular year, which is a disruptive year? Yeah, it is a strange year, and
02:59look, I've been part of covering the IPL, and when the first game was played only a couple of years
03:04ago, it was one game, two teams, during what, 2pm Mumbai heat. No one was attending. Last year,
03:13obviously, included another team, played it at 7pm during the finals. Everyone's used to
03:20clicking on the TV and just watching IPL matches, and to get the women's games there, it certainly,
03:26we saw a huge influx. The fact that India didn't also get the opportunity to travel to England,
03:34because of the pandemic, I'm sure there are a number of Indian contracted players and domestic
03:40players going, what's happening to women's cricket in India? When's our next game? When's our next
03:45camp? There was no date to kind of put in your diary and go, right, this is what I'm working
03:52towards. The IPL normally never clashes with the WBBL. This is really a strange year.
03:59Purely, if you were to think domestic Indian players, has to go ahead. They have to have
04:05something. So, credit to the BCCI for doing that. I do understand Elisa Healey's disappointment,
04:14in the sense that the WBBL is always held in October, November, up until early December.
04:21I guess the thoughts are, maybe from international players, why doesn't the BCCI just do a fully
04:28pledged women's IPL, maybe hold it in that February time period, when the Women's World
04:35Cup now has been moved. Similar to what they're doing now with the Men's T20 World Cup, they're
04:40putting the IPL there. So, if you want to sell the best product, if you want to showcase the best
04:45players in a women's T20 exhibition matches, which is really the women's IPL games, you want everyone
04:53there. You want the best players. So, unfortunately, that's not going to be the case. But as I've said,
04:58a number of times, it will open the door for a lot more domestic Indian players. And we saw last
05:05T20 exhibition matches, Shefali Verma come onto the scene, and we saw her then almost be player
05:11of the tournament in the T20 World Cup. I'm sure the tournament will unearth plenty more talent
05:17there. So, whilst it's frustrating, even as a broadcaster who loves going to India and wants
05:24to see the Indian domestic circuit thrive, it's not ideal, but at least they've got some cricket
05:30and that's the main thing. I absolutely agree with you. In fact, I would be the first person
05:34to put my hand up and say, I would want to watch Elisa Healy play in this competition, because
05:38the final innings, I mean, she's a star. We want the best players to play. On the other hand,
05:43having spoken to all the Indian girls, I mean, from Mitali to Jhulan, to Veda, to Smriti,
05:48to everyone, I know exactly what you said, that the England matches getting cancelled and I was
05:53getting calls. Do you know what's happening? Do you know what's happening? When are we playing?
05:56So they were itching to go out there. So they need something for them. I mean, it's a strange
06:02one. And I hope this doesn't happen again, because we need all tournaments and at a spaced out
06:07manner so that we get maximum, maximum cricket. Your thoughts on Beyond the Boundary? I mean,
06:12the docu, firstly, your dresses were beautiful. Having said that, that comment about Thailand,
06:19that, you know, they bring a smile to your face. And when I see that, you were saying
06:25that in February, March. And when I see that in context, six months down the line,
06:29that smile means a hell lot more to each one of us. The pandemic has robbed us of that smile.
06:35So if anyone can bring a smile to our face, whether it's Chantham, whether it's Tipo,
06:39whether it's anyone, it means a hell lot. So your thoughts on that docu? It was an interesting one,
06:44because it was originally just for an ICC kind of TV, you know, recapturing, basically, hopefully,
06:52a really momentous moment in women's cricket. The fact that they were trying to break the world
06:58record, got very close with the 86,000, but still ticked so many boxes. And I think the main thing
07:06is, in this pandemic, everyone's been thriving, wanting life, sport. But you know what,
07:13the last kind of real ICC event, big event, where there was a huge crowd, was that T20 World Cup.
07:20So I think everyone, even the Indians, I know that probably didn't want to watch the final,
07:26they've all watched it. And they've all enjoyed it, because it takes us down memory lane, when
07:30things were really good, things were exciting, life was kind of normal. So I think the timing of
07:35that documentary was perfect. Ideally, as they move forward, and the ICC start to realise there
07:41is an appetite for women's sport and women's live events, hopefully, the documentary for the next
07:48World Cup or the next T20 World Cup, they'll be able to invest a bit more money to not only follow
07:55four teams, but to follow all of the teams and maybe have a little mini series of, you know,
08:01each one in their road, because everyone goes through a different journey. In an ICC event,
08:08there are so many dramas within that little nucleus of players. And it'd be great to share it
08:14with the rest of the world that are starting to really fall in love with women's cricket.
08:19Now, if I can ask you, as a broadcaster, I mean, when we take a look at world sport,
08:24be it the Bundesliga, be it the Serie A, be it the La Liga, be it the EPL, I mean,
08:28all of these leagues at the start had a bit of a hiccup. You know, there were some tests which
08:33came positive before the bio bubbles were put in place. And eventually all got sorted, we saw live
08:37sport back. We've seen that happen with the Chennai Super Kings 12-13 cases. Does that make you
08:43apprehensive of the IPL? For example, I am not. I mean, I think this has happened at the start,
08:48the bio bubble is now in place, they will get it right, they will be in quarantine,
08:52tests will be done, people will move on. So the question is, are you alarmed? Are you worried
08:57at the same time? Or do you think, no, this actually emphasises the importance of the
09:02bio bubble and how sacrosanct it should be and the tournament should go on as planned?
09:06I think it's just reflective of this pandemic worldwide. Now, I'm fortunate, I'm in Australia
09:13where the numbers are really low compared to obviously India, America, Brazil, those type of
09:20places. This virus is able to transmit so easily. So people flying across to Dubai,
09:30people travelling in airports, people coming in close proximity, there's going to be some level
09:35of exposure. The great thing about the bio bubble is once you're there, you get the tests and then
09:41you've got to isolate. And once you're there, hopefully, fingers crossed, and we've seen in
09:46other sports as well, once you're in it for a while, then everyone can kind of go on with playing
09:53the sport, playing the tournament, playing the series that they need. But there is going to be
09:57hiccups, but there's hiccups around constantly. So we're going to have to keep adapting. And this
10:03is the new norm, unfortunately. If I can sort of push you a little bit more on, I mean, I'm in
10:08touch with a number of leading players. And I've been asking this question that, you know, you get
10:12yourself quarantined, and it applies to you also as a broadcaster, whenever you decide to travel
10:16Lisa Guha was telling me, you can't go out for a meal, there is only a half an hour window during,
10:21you know, when you're staying in the same hotel. So it's a very rigid new normal. I mean, to what
10:27extent while we all want sport back, it is an industry and it far outweighs any other consideration.
10:32What do you think is the impact on mental health? And how significant is that? I mean,
10:36we are treating, are we at one level treating players, commentators, all of the stakeholders
10:41here as robots and not perhaps are showing adequate importance to mental health? Or how
10:46do we deal with that challenge of this kind of bio bubble for 85 days?
10:50It's a fine line. You know, I'm, my last game that I covered was the T20 World Cup final. So
10:578th of March, and I've been out of work, I've lost months of work, I am going over to the IPL.
11:03Obviously, I have to quarantine, I think six or seven days there. And then when I come back two
11:07weeks, and that's for a period of maybe three weeks of work. So three weeks in quarantine,
11:12three weeks of work, six weeks in total, really, you talk about mental health,
11:18the mental health of people not having work, not having an income, not being able to pay the bills.
11:25Like I said, it's a fine line. So I'm going stir crazy, I need to get back out on the road.
11:30How will I cope in quarantine? I don't know, I'm gonna have to figure it out. Two weeks,
11:36even though when I've landed in Australia, and I'll be in a hotel in my home city,
11:40paying $3,000 for it for that, for that experience, you know, I've got to fork that out,
11:46I've got to keep myself entertained. This is where you require really close friends, family,
11:52to be able to keep you entertained whilst you're in quarantine. Hopefully work will be busy enough
11:57for me to keep myself occupied. Otherwise, I'm quite happy to do zoom chats every day if you want
12:03to buy the time. I was chatting with Sachin who was on my show, actually, Inspiration the other
12:09day, and we were talking about the IPL, that it's not only about the Virat Kohli and the MS Dhoni,
12:14it is also about take the media fraternity, you, me, each of us have been out of incomes and
12:18livelihoods and work. And it is important for the fraternity for sports to come back. I mean,
12:23that sense, Sachin's comment was that, look, we will talk about numbers, but different numbers,
12:27not cases and recoveries, but about scoring rates and asking rates. And it will be bring
12:32positivity back, at least a semblance of positivity back. That while correctives, yes,
12:37but alarm, no. I mean, we need sport back for this larger industry to survive. And I thought
12:43that is what the IPL is all about. Would you agree? Sport brings people together. It brings
12:48people from all different cultures, backgrounds, race, religion, everything. And probably in this
12:55time when we've had obviously the Black Lives Matter movements, we need some positivity. Sport
13:02allows us that because, you know, there is a winner, there is a loser. You, from a territorial
13:09point of view, you have your team, you want to cheer for them. And sometimes it takes you away
13:16from what your reality is. And like I said, sport really does bring us all together, like even for
13:22all of us as broadcasters and crew members, it's a family away from home. And I haven't seen my
13:29second family for months. So it does bring us all together and it will certainly help
13:36everyone's mood. Obviously, the IPL is the biggest T20 domestic competition in the world. The best
13:41players go there. Everyone wants to be a part of it. So not only will it help, you know, the billions
13:47of people over in India to kind of focus on something other than COVID case numbers, you know,
13:52in the 70,000s per day, it will get them to focus on something a little bit more positive to be
14:00able to get through this difficult time. My last question, and this is a personal one, what are you
14:05feeling? I mean, you'll get on a flight again to do what you love to do at the same time. The world
14:10is a very different world. You've got to wear masks and sanitizers and N95 and quarantine and all of
14:16that. Give me your sense. Is it apprehension? Is it butterflies in your tummy when you get into
14:20that commentary box, which is a changed, socially distanced commentary box? What's your sense?
14:25I'm looking forward to it, to be honest. Like I said, I've been going stir crazy.
14:29Yeah, it's going to be a different world. Harsha Bhogle and myself won't be able to go shopping in
14:35the airport. So I would imagine that most of the shops are shut down. There won't be that many
14:40people there. It is going to be different COVID tests. I think we'd have to do a number of tests,
14:45not only before, but also whilst we're there. So a bit of a brain tickle regularly. So it is going
14:51to be different, but I think, and I'm going to have to get back to you on how I really do cope,
14:59but I think it's going to be a positive thing for me to see all of the people that I have missed.
15:05I live at home by myself. And obviously there were certain points here in Australia where we
15:11were on lockdown and we couldn't have any family or friends here. So I was all by myself. So I'm
15:17looking forward to interacting with people, even if it's through a glass and we can just wave,
15:23we can't hug or anything like that. But at least the interaction between other human beings is
15:28what I'm craving. Absolutely agree. In fact, can't agree more. I think it'll be a great experience.
15:35We want sport back for me. This is actually an opportunity, an opportunity. I was having a chat
15:41with Star Sports boss, Uday Shankar saying, look, I mean, what we've done in the past is we've only
15:46focused on the stadium, but with technology, you're expanding the fan base in a manner that you're
15:51integrating fans from around the world. So when science eventually wins and science will, pandemics
15:57have always come and gone. We will have a world where sport is stronger, sport is bigger, sport
16:03is better. And I'm confident Lisa, you will have a bigger role to play coming months
16:08in the better world that we will have in maybe 21. But for the moment, wish you more power,
16:14more strength, more commitment to your cause. And once again, many congratulations for doing
16:20tremendous service to the game. Thank you very much for being part of this. Thanks for having me.