10 Facts about the Ayaz Memon: The 'Cricket Wallah' of India

Not many people from non-sporting background attain the kind of popularity that veteran sports journalist and sports commentator Ayaz Memon enjoys. A law graduate by qualification, he decided not to follow his father footsteps and entered the world of sports journalism due to his passion for sports. Since then, Memon has established his name as one of the most popular personalities in sports journalism in India, working as a journalist for more than 38 years. He has written extensively on numerous features related to the field of sports, politics, and cinema.

1.Born On: 

Ayaz Memon was born on November 22, 1951, in the bustling city of Bridgeport in the state of Connecticut, United States.

2. Education:

Ayaz is a graduate in economics and law. He completed his education from Bombay University.

3. Forays into journalism while still in Law school:

Ayaz pursued journalism as a career after a chance job with Sportsweek magazine in 1978 while still at law school.

4. Career:

In his 38 years long career, Ayaz has covered over 300 Test matches and more than 400 One-Day Internationals all over the world. Additionally, he has also covered 9 Cricket World Cups, the 2006 Football World Cup, the 1988 Olympics, Wimbledon in 1991 and 1993, the 1998 and 2010 Commonwealth Games and the 1990 Asian Games. He also covered the 2015 Cricket World Cup Final on Huffington Post.

5. A commentator:

On television, he was part of the commentary team for the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka, 2004 for ESPN and then for the NatWest India-England One-Day series, also for ESPN, in 2004.

6. The Cricket expert:

He has been a regular on the studio panel for the World Cup, Champions Trophy and IPL since 2004 for many sports and entertainment channel.

7. A vast portfolio:

Ayaz Memon has worked for almost every big newspaper in India. He was associated with Mid-Day, Bombay Times and DNA writing opinion based columns for them. He was also the editor of Sportsweek magazine and sports editor of the Times of India and the Independent at various stages. He is now consulting editor with NewsX and a columnist with Hindustan Times, Mint, Mail Today, Deccan Chronicle/Asian Age and occasionally Times of India. He also does an internet radio show on planetradiocity.com

8. A pool of knowledge:

Ayaz has authored and co-authored several books such as the Wills Book of Excellence on One-Day Cricket to coincide with the World Cup, Wills Book of Excellence on One-Day Cricket again for the World Cup, Thunder Down Under, about the 1991-92 World Cup, The Best in the World: India’s Ten Greatest World Cup Matches, co-authored with actor and cricket enthusiast, Tom Alter, 2003. He has recently written books such as Sachin Tendulkar: Master Blaster, Virat Kohli: Reliable Rebel, MS Dhoni: Captain Cool and Yuvraj Singh: Powerful Elegance.

9. The Historian:

Apart from being an established sports writer, Memon has also edited and co-authored a book on India’s history with Ranjona Banerji. The book was titled – India 50: The Making of a Nation, a chronicle of contemporary Indian history with expert commentary, published in 1997 to commemorate 50 years of Indian Independence.

10. Personal Life:

Ayaz Memon is married to Ambreena Memon.