'I have a different perspective on the game'- Anil Chaudhary on joining commentary team in IPL 2025

There have been many transitioning phases in the IPL and one of them involved the former umpire Anil Chaudhary who will be joining the commentary team in the upcoming IPL 2025 season which will be starting on March 22 at the Eden Gardens between Kolkata Knight Rider and Royal Challengers Bengaluru. 

Chaudhary has been an umpire for a long time. Apart from officiating games in the IPL for the last 17 years, he will be offering his insights in the Haryanavi feed in the tournament. While some would believe it will be a tough shift from officiating games as an umpire to becoming a commentator, Chaudhary has revealed that he has been commentating for the last three months and talks about how his perspective on the game might differ from the ex-cricketers. He also mentioned that he is satisfied with his work as an umpire despite not being a part of the ICC elite panel which has only featured one Indian umpire so far in the form of Nitin Menon. 

“I have been commentating for the past three-four months. So, I was already in the transition phase. I have also been teaching umpiring and commentary via an online platform, as an umpire, I did around 15 games in a season, here I would be doing more than 50 (matches). On air, former cricketers look at the game in their own way, and being an umpire I have a different perspective on the game. It is fun," said Chaudhary as quoted by NDTV. 

“I was an international umpire for more than 12 years. Have been doing IPL since 2008 and have done more than 200 games. Kuch na kuch toh reh hee jata hain life mein (Something gets left behind in life)," The Delhi-based umpire added. 

We take a lot of stress on the field: Anil Chaudhary 

Apart from talking about his stint in commentary Anil Chaudhary also gave his intake on why Indian umpires are not excelling a lot in the game. Chaudhary has said that the Indian umpires take a lot of stress on the field and sometimes do not take care of their health. He also mentioned that mugging up bookish knowledge will harm the game even more. 

“We take a lot of stress on the field. Sometimes, our umpires don't eat properly. We are focussing too much on theory when we should worry about the practical implementation part. Some get too technical, quoting the law all the time, that is not the best way to approach umpiring. Umpires who rely on bookish knowledge are harming the game. We need to understand the spirit of law. Just mugging up the law will not take you anywhere," Chaudhary claimed.