Shardul Thakur to open commentary as Sony Sports unveils star-studded panel for India vs England series

Sony Sports Network has announced its commentary panel for India’s upcoming tour of England. India all-rounder Shardul Thakur will make his broadcast debut along with a number of former cricketers and experts for the eight-match series in England.

India will face England in five T20Is and three ODIs from July 1 to July 19. The T20I series will begin on July 1, while the ODI phase will begin on July 14. The matches will be telecast on Sony Sports Network channels, with the T20I also available on Sony Max.

Shardul Thakur set for commentary debut during India vs England white-ball series

Shardul Thakur has been included in the commentary panel for the upcoming white-ball tour. The 34-year-old will make his commentary debut and be a part of Sony Sports Network’s Hindi coverage for both the T20I and ODI series.

Shardul Thakur is currently out of India’s white-ball plans and recently played in the Mumbai T20 League. With no major domestic tournaments scheduled in the next few weeks, the break has given the experienced all-rounder a chance to make his debut as a television commentator.

Shardul Thakur will join former India cricketers Ajay Jadeja, Ambati Rayudu and Vivek Razdan in the Hindi commentary team. The studio coverage will include Gaurav Kapoor, Sameer Kochhar and Aatish Thukral, while the popular show Extra Innings will also return during the series.

The broadcaster will provide coverage in five languages ​​including English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. Notably, Sony Sports Network will provide dedicated Kannada commentary for India’s tour of England on Indian television for the first time.

KS Bharat ready to join commentary box after international retirement

Former Indian wicketkeeper-batsman KS Bharat will also make his commentary debut during the England tour. The 32-year-old will then join Sony Sports Network’s panel for the three-match ODI series Announced his retirement from international cricket earlier this month.

Bharat confirmed his retirement through an emotional post on Instagram on June 4. He decided to step away from international cricket to pursue opportunities in franchise T20 leagues and has relocated to Dubai ahead of his upcoming ILT20 stint.

Sony Sports Network has also included several former international and domestic stars in its regional commentary panels. WV Raman, Baba Aparajith, Venkatapathy Raju, Arun Karthik and other experts will provide analysis across multiple regional language feeds throughout the series.

The broadcaster will also bring back its popular pre-match show, Extra Innings, for the England tour. Live coverage of the series will begin with the first T20 match on July 1 and will be available on Sony Sports Ten 1, Sony Sports Ten 3, Sony Sports Ten 4, Sony Sports Ten 5, Sony Max and Sony Liv.

Full commentary panel announced for India vs England tour

English: Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar, Graeme Swann, Sanjana Ganesan, Ambati Rayudu

Hindi: Shardul Thakur, Ambati Rayudu, Ajay Jadeja, Vivek Razdan, Gaurav Kapoor, Aatish Thukral, Sameer Kochhar

Tamil: WV Raman, Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan, Bhagwati Prasad, Arun Karthik, Baba Aparajith

Telugu: KS Bharat, Sandeep Kumar, Dnyaneshwar Rao, Rakesh Deva, Vijay Gaur, Ravi Teja

Kannada: Sujit Somasundar, Sumath Bhatt, Amit Verma, Raghavendra Raj, KS Bharat, Sandeep Kumar, Venkatapathy Raju, Rakesh Deva, Ravi Teja, Sujay Shastri