Noted cricket journalist Sharda Ugra joins the podcast for a detailed conversation on many things including the changing landscape of cricket journalism, layers of fandom, brand value of a player and much more. Ugra has covered professional cricket since the late 80's. In this episode she recalls how the media relationship with the practitioners of sport has changed especially when it comes to highlighting any conflicts and shortcomings. What happens when your favorite cricket player is now the most powerful brand by itself? How do we rise above the "us" vs "them" mentality concerning the off field issues? Lot of important topics uncovered.
This conversation had lot of layers to it and Ugra also addressed her recent articles on BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and team India head coach Ravi Shastri. There is a lot of food for thought on how we have evolved as fans and how the sport should be held accountable.
Some of her relative recent work to the topics we covered -
https://www.hindustantimes.com/cricket/the-many-conflicts-of-president-ganguly/story-PUOrqjm0YzeEwQWsaYMCGI.html
https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/come-to-think-of-it-whatever-happened-to-ravi-shastri-1-0-1223184
https://www.hindustantimes.com/cricket/beware-the-indian-stadium-experience-101614134114809.html