Meet Jodhpur’s Devender Kumar, who rejected USA job offer to become voice of Afghanistan cricket

New Delhi: Commentary is an art. Which is far now not necessary whether one has played the sport to became a successful commentator. All one need is the eagerness and love for the sport he or she is commentating on. One such bloke is Devender Kumar – the Jodhpur lad who has became the voice of Afghanistan cricket. Devender’s love for commentary began when he heard Tony Greig commentating Sachin Tendulkar’s six off Michael Kasprowicz in 1998 as a ten-year-old.

The road wasn’t smooth for Devender who hails from Chutarpura, a small village in Jodhpur. He didn’t have a cricketing background or he spoke English. All he would do is to practice day after day by taking note of news and commentary on the radio. He listed to the likes of John Murray and Alan Green – a considerable selection of renowned commentators on this planet.

“One day I used to be flicking channels after I heard this piece of commentary on air,” Devender, who had come to Greater Noida for one-off Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand, told ESPNcricinfo. “I used to be attracted to Tony Greig’s voice and the rhythm of his commentary. I felt like this became something special and I should take it up,” he added.

“After this, I started practising commentary for hours. My father became within the Army and had an analog radio that played both short and medium wave-length radio stations. I used to listen to commentary from all sports, now not just cricket, after which repeat this exercise for hours.”

“Through this show, I used to get news from sports the arena over every Saturday and Sunday. Within the start, I couldn’t even to remember of what they were saying, because I didn’t know English at all. But their way of talking, the rhythm of their voice, all this attracted me a lot,” he said.

While he became chasing his dream within the field of commentary and commentate atleast in one of Tendulkar’s games, Devender also continued his studies parallely. He did a nursing course and got a job in United States in 2006. However it the middle-aged man rejected the offer.

Staying in Jodhpur wasn’t helping Devender. He came to Jaipur and would go to Sawai Mansingh Stadium day after day morning and commentate with a paper mic in hand. He practiced commentary on several sports and the routine continued for the following 10 years.

While some liked what he became doing, there have been many who often also is referred to as Devender crazy. Soon he started getting assignments from local tournaments with a remuneration of Rs five hundred per day. Gradually, Devender became a customary voice in Akashvani, All India Radio and even Doordarshan Jaipur.

His big break came in 2009 when Lalit Modi (then chairman of Rajasthan Cricket Association) became impressed by Devender’s passion and offered him an internship at the now-defunct Champions League T20, which became held in India. He went to Delhi for the internship and met Alan Wilkins who became his mentor. At some point of his internship days, Devender met several other top commentators.

It became one of them who recommended Devender’s name when Afghanistan Cricket Board became in search of a commentator. He signed the contract with ACB and he made his international debut in an ODI between Ireland and Afghanistan in an ODI on December 5, 2017 in Sharjah.

“I couldn’t have self belief that I used to be sitting within the commentary box where Tony Greig served Sachin’s Barren region Storm to the arena. It took me an innings to sink it all in and handiest after I used to be going for the commentary within the 2d innings, I felt that a dream of mine had come true. Which is after I posted on my social media, ‘I am making my international cricket debut’,” he said.

Seven years later, Devender stands at over 100 international games and likewise does commentary on Afghanistan’s domestic games.