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MUMBAI: Bollywood actress and host Mandira Bedi was one of the first women who stepped into hosting and commentary for the ICC Cricket World Cups in 2003 and 2007. She also hosted Champions Trophies in 2004 and 2006, Indian Premier League season 2 and others. However, it was not a cakewalk for Mandira to step into unknown territory.
She has recalled the time when a lot of cricketers stared down at her when she was hosting pre-match shows at cricket tournaments. She revealed that many times they were wondering what questions she was asking and their unrelated responses to her questions used to intimidate her.
“Nobody accepted me to begin with, certainly not the people sitting on the panel. I'm friends with all the ex-cricketers now who I worked with back then as well but they didn't like that either. They didn't like that there was a woman wearing a saree, dressed up, talking cricket. Nobody fed me any lines, nobody fed me any questions. I was there to represent the layperson who doesn't know every technicality of cricket, who does not know every nuance of cricket,” Mandira asserted.
She added, "I was told whatever question comes to your mind at that particular point of time if you're thinking of asking it. I was given that freedom. Of course, I got stared down by a lot of the cricketers like- what's she even asking, why is she even asking that. They answered whatever they wanted to answer nothing connected to my question and that can be very intimidating but I kind of was assured by the channel, it was Sony, that backed me and chose me from 150-200 women. They said that we've chosen you with the reason we think you have what it takes to stay, so go ahead and be yourself and start enjoying yourself."
Credit: BollywoodLife
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