Meet Devender Kumar from Jodhpur, the man who turned down a job offer in the USA to become the voice of Afghanistan cricket

New Delhi: Commentary is a skill that requires passion and love for the game rather than playing experience. Devender Kumar, a native of Jodhpur, is a prime example of this. Despite not playing the sport, he has become the voice of Afghanistan cricket through his dedication to commentary. Devender's interest in commentary was sparked at the age of 10 when he heard Tony Greig's commentary on Sachin Tendulkar's six off Michael Kasprowicz in 1998. His admiration for the art of commentary has propelled him to great success in the field.

The road wasn’t smooth for Devender who hails from Chutarpura, a small village in Jodhpur. He didn’t have a cricketing background or he spoke English. All he would do is to practice everyday by listening to news and commentary on the radio. He listed to the likes of John Murray and Alan Green – some of renowned commentators in the world.

“One day I was flicking channels when I heard this piece of commentary on air,” Devender, who had come to Greater Noida for one-off Test between Afghanistan and New Zealand, told ESPNcricinfo. “I was attracted to Tony Greig’s voice and the rhythm of his commentary. I felt like this was something special and I should take it up,” he added.

“After this, I started practising commentary for hours. My father was in the Army and had an analog radio that played both short and medium wave-length radio stations. I used to listen to commentary from all sports, not just cricket, and then repeat this exercise for hours.”

“Through this show, I used to get news from sports the world over every Saturday and Sunday. In the beginning, I couldn’t even understand what they were saying, because I didn’t know English at all. But their way of talking, the rhythm of their voice, all this attracted me a lot,” he said.

While he was chasing his dream in the field of commentary and commentate atleast in one of Tendulkar’s games, Devender also continued his studies parallely. He did a nursing course and got a job in United States in 2006. But the middle-aged man rejected the offer.

Staying in Jodhpur wasn’t helping Devender. He came to Jaipur and would go to Sawai Mansingh Stadium everyday morning and commentate with a paper mic in hand. He practiced commentary on several sports and the routine continued for the next 10 years.

While some liked what he was doing, there were many who called Devender crazy. Soon he started getting assignments from local tournaments with a remuneration of Rs 500 per day. Gradually, Devender became a regular voice in Akashvani, All India Radio and even Doordarshan Jaipur.

His big break came in 2009 when Lalit Modi (then chairman of Rajasthan Cricket Association) was impressed by Devender’s passion and offered him an internship at the now-defunct Champions League T20, which was held in India. He went to Delhi for the internship and met Alan Wilkins who became his mentor. During his internship days, Devender met several other top commentators.

It was one of them who recommended Devender’s name when Afghanistan Cricket Board was searching for a commentator. He signed the contract with ACB and he made his international debut in an ODI between Ireland and Afghanistan in an ODI on December 5, 2017 in Sharjah.

“I couldn’t believe that I was sitting in the commentary box where Tony Greig served Sachin’s Desert Storm to the world. It took me an innings to sink it all in and only when I was going for the commentary in the second innings, I felt that a dream of mine had come true. That is when I posted on my social media, ‘I am making my international cricket debut’,” he said.

Seven years later, Devender stands at over 100 international games and also does commentary on Afghanistan’s domestic games.