'You can’t do this, we need a new face' - Mayanti Langer reveals that she got rejected for IPL four times in a row

Mayanti Langer Binny is one of the biggest faces in the world of sports broadcasting today. From initially hating cricket to rejecting the offer to host the now-defunct Indian Cricket League to hosting global events including Hockey World Cup, FIFA World Cup 2010, 2012 Summer Olympics and of-course ICC events including the 2015 and 2019 World Cups and now the Indian Premier League, Langer has done it all in the past decade.

But everything has not been as hunky-dory for Langer-Binny in her career. The charismatic sports presenter was rejected four times from hosting the cash-rich Indian Premier League. And, it was not because of her lack of talent or suitability for the job or something, it was because the broadcasters wanted a fresh face.

“I got rejected for the IPL four times in a row. Before the 2011 edition, they called and said we have finalised you in the team, the next time we call you it will be about when to shoot the promo. It ended up not being me. They called me back and said ‘Listen you’ve just done the World Cup, you can’t do this, we need a new face’,” Mayanti Langer told Verve Magazine.

She added, “At a point I did give up, thinking it’s just not to be. Basically, they didn’t want you. It wasn’t that you weren’t good enough. You just weren’t what they were looking for. Any rejection in life is hard, and it’s hard to make peace with but I made my peace with it. IPL is not in my destiny, cool, let me enjoy it.”

2018- When Mayanti Langer’s long-standing dream was finally realised

Langer had accepted it to be her destiny but as they say, life is unpredictable and one never knows when an opportunity can come knocking at your door. This is exactly what happened with Langer in 2018 when Star Sports grabbed the broadcasting rights of the IPL.

“There was a bit of confusion about how many matches I was going to do. I ended up doing all of them. Not one day off! I remember telling myself, ‘Just shut up and do it, you’ve waited so long for this, you’re finally hosting the IPL, you don’t know if you’ll get this opportunity again!’” she added.

Hosting the IPL was a huge deal for Mayanti, and she went on to recount the message that her husband Stuart Binny gave her when she went on to host her first IPL game.

“He knows my journey. He knows it’s the only time in broadcast where I’ve had a lot of setbacks because someone didn’t want me. So I remember him saying ‘you’ve cracked it, enjoy it, this is your moment, make it happen’, and that’s been an amazing part of having him as a partner. His life is so stressful, so many public highs and lows, that he could understand how huge that moment was. And I enjoyed it, because he was playing the IPL!”