Chasing his Tony Greig dream: Nowhere to right there

Chandigarh : April 22, 1998. Sachin Tendulkar whipped up a storm in Sharjah, leaving the mighty Australians flattened in its wake. The inimitable Tony Greig worked his magic in the commentary box, transmitting the excitement and madness of that unforgettable evening to millions. Thousands of miles away, in a nondescript village in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur district, an 11-year-old caught a slice of the action on BBC Radio.
Greig’s delightful voice left him fascinated. Then and there, he made a decision — he would do what the man he was listening to was doing, and do it exactly the way he was doing it. December 5, 2017. That boy, now 30 years old, sat in the same commentary box, calling his first international game, an ODI between Ireland and Afghanistan. For Devender Kumar, there couldn’t have been a coincidence greater, and a moment prouder and happier. Commentators are never at a loss for words, but Devender, for once, was. His normally solid and steady voice quivered. The struggle to hold back emotions was all too apparent as he tried to relive the incredible experience. “It was a surreal moment. As I walked up to the commentary box, I was almost in a trance, it was unbelievable…” he stops abruptly, maybe to get the control back over his trembling voice.