Come April 3 and the mother of all domestic tournaments, IPl6, will rule on TV. Two new women anchors — Karishma Kotak and Rochelle Maira Rao — along with Gaurav Kapur and Samir Kochhar, are gearing up to enthrall the audience with their special comments on Extraaa Innings T20 on Sony MAX.
“Cricket is soon going to be the biggest vamp of all saas bahu serials as they will lose their audience to this tournament. It is time the family comes together to enjoy a match played with full gusto. There is a buzz around IPl6 and the stars that we are about to see are unbelievable. I don’t think there can be a better entertainment carnival than this. We have an expert panel which includes cricket stalwarts like Navjot Singh Sidhu, Sunil Gavaskar, Ajay Jadega, Harsha Bhogle, Rameez Raja, Isa Guha and for the very first time Kapil Dev is going to grace this show with his presence. To up the entertainment, professional cheerleaders of the New York Giants team are coming all the way from America,” Samir Kochhar, who has since gone out of Bade Achhey lagte Hain, says.
Talking about live anchoring, Kochhar says it is a challenging assignment, something that gives him an adrenaline rush. “live anchoring is not easy to do. It requires us to be on our toes all the time. There is a lot of pressure, with lots of instructions and a timeline to follow. Our aim is to mix fun with cricket,” Kochhar tells you.
last year, the show had Ajay Jadega dancing to bhangra beats and viewers getting to see Sunil Gavaskar’s funny side up. Although his mimicry was not all that great, the applause went to the master batsman’s sporting spirit. The anchors tell you that this season is going to be refreshingly different.
Though Kochhar left Bade Ache lagte Hain on a high note, he says he got a lot of fame through the show. “BAlH was my first attempt in fiction shows, so naturally, I was apprehensive. It was funny that I got a lot of marriage proposals post the show. Unfortunately, I’m already happily married,” Kochhar adds.
Gaurav Kapur, his dost and co-anchor, says IPl leaves him sleep deprived. “The most challenging part is to keep a balance in terms of language presentation as you don’t want to alienate the family audience. We’ll try to mix both Hindi and English language,” he says.
Asked what the best part of anchoring IPl is, he says: “The two loves — cricket, from my childhood, and live TV presentation be it on stage, TV, radio, or any other field. When both these fields come together, it's free run in a candy store for me. I can go on and on when it comes to live presentation,” Kapur tells you, adding that the after-party scene though in IPl is no longer that happening.
While the two male anchors are rejoicing, popular Bigg Boss housemate Karishma Kotak has butterflies in her stomach. “I’ll be presenting the lighter side of IPl but I am nervous about being a live presenter,” she says.
Femina Miss India International 2012, Rochelle Maria Rao, a big IPl fan, will be anchoring live for the first time as well. “My wardrobe is full of yellow dresses as CSK is my favourite team,” she says.