Harsha Bhogle is possibly the first Indian sports celebrity still relevant in sports, entertainment and media. Bhogle was at the right place at the right time. He was right there in the nineties when foreign companies came with their investments to India. The companies were raring to get their chunks of investment in sports, entertainment, films, everything that was available and possible. Today, Harsha is one of the few sports celebrities and brands that are viable investments on paper and in reality. Here’s all you would like to know about Harsha Bhogle.
Harsha Bhogle: Humble Beginnings
Harsha Bhogle started as a cricketer in the minor leagues. Though he started playing in the Div A at the Rohinton Baria Tournament, he began his career in sports commenting on the game at 19. Post that, there was no looking back. He hit the big leagues when he started commentating for the BBC and then went on to have a long stint with ESPN Sports.
Harsha Bhogle has a BTech degree from Osmania University’s College of Technology. Further, he has a PGDMB from IIM-Ahmedabad. He also worked at an advertising agency and then went on to work at a sports management company.
Harsha Bhogle: Lesser Known Facts
Harsha Bhogle is also one of the first Indians to have TV series running in their name. He is truly the original Indian celebrity presenter in the world of sports and entertainment.
Bhogle has had a storied career in the world of cricket commenting. He hosted programs Harsha Online, Harsha Unplugged and the School Kid Olympiad, making him a household name presenting sport-based and general programs on television.
Harsha Bhogle is the author of several books about cricket. He wrote the official biography of Mohammad Azharuddin and co-authored Winning Ways with his wife based on his experiences running a sports-based business.
He was also one of the first Indian sportscasters to have their show on Youtube. Harsha Bhogle’s Youtube show titled Out of the Box with Harsha Bhogle.
While Bhogle is famous for his sportscasting, he has also presented travel and knowledge shows, like Harsha Online, Harsha Unplugged, School Quiz Olympiad. He also had a show, Harsha Ki Khoj, that was an endeavour to search for India’s next broadcaster. Bhogle had the Youtube show, Out of the Box with Harsha Bhogle. He has anchored the BBC travel series Travel India.
Bhogle is also an influential column writer and has written for several newspapers and periodicals over the years, including the Indian Express. He does video analysis and also writes articles for Cricbuzz, the website by The Times of India.
Harsha Bhogle Family
Harsha Bhogle married the person that he fell in love with during his IIM days, Anita Bhogle. They have two sons, and they live together in Mumbai. Harsha Bhogle is one of the most influential names and brands in the world of sports entertainment. His voice won the vote of ‘The Sexiest Voice on Radio’.
Salary
Bhogle is one of the few successful celebrity sports announcers in India. He has made a name for himself, and there are several venues from which he makes money.
At last count, he charged more than $4000 for commenting on one match. And for a series, he would charge anything from $35000 to $40000.
The amounts are not counting the various book deals and promotional deals that he has going on. For example, currently, he’s signed up with a company that sells hygiene products for a promotional series about fighting Covid is the only way that we can, by staying at home and taking precautions when we are outside.
We haven’t seen Bhogle in several ads, so there’s no information about whether he makes money via promotions and commercials. But of course, there’s every chance that he does have tie-ups for such commercials. If and when Harsha signs up with such a company and the ad runs live, we will have information about how much he earns. He made the rare movie appearance in the 2017 movie, Hattrick.
Controversies
Hasha Bhogle has a storied career and has been devoid of controversies, mostly. For a person covering sports entertainment for decades, this in itself is a matter of pride. However, he did have some spats now and then.
The BCCI removed him from their list of commentators after some said he criticized Indian cricketers more than necessary. In 2016, his IPL contract faced termination. Though there was never an announcement of the official reason, rumour said that it emanated from an incident that occurred between Bhogle and a senior cricket official from Nagpur.
Harsha had another tiff with Sanjay Manjrekar during the first Day-Night test between India and Bangladesh. When Bhogle commented about the visibility of the pink ball, Manjrekar retorted that only someone who hasn’t played cricket at that level would ask something like this. He and his wife run Prosearch, a sports-based communication consultancy agency.
But leaving these issues, Bhogle has always been spoken of warmly by his cricketing contemporaries. Sachin Tendulkar has said that talking cricket with Bhogle is a learning experience, and he speaks about cricket with a whole new perspective.
In a nutshell
Harsha Bhogle is one of the most popular sports celebrities in India. He is one of the few who carved a career for himself out of something that didn’t even exist back in the day. Not just that, Harsha Bhogle also tried to generate and increase interest in this career with the reality show that he had. In retrospect, he’s one of the few sports personalities who has successfully evolved into a presenter of various business and other professional events.
Today, he has several options open, and he is not resting on his laurels. One of his nieces is already embarking on a journey in the world of music and entertainment.
The above-mentioned information is all that’s there to know about Harsha Bhogle. At Chandigarhfirst.com, we make sure you have access to everything that you would like to know about celebrities, products and get information about lifestyle.
