Mandira Bedi recalls being criticized as a cricket presenter, was told not to read comments

In Pic: Mandira Bedi

The T20 World Cup fever is on as India is about to battle it out against South Africa tonight, and there is so much euphoria in the air. Parallel to this is the world of presenters who have been loved over the years by cricket fans. One of them is the iconic Mandira Bedi, who changed the game for women in the presenters' pool when she was appointed as the first female presenter by Sony back in 2003. Over the years, she achieved new heights by sticking to her presenter tag, and many of us have known her by that. This is nothing less than an achievement for the actor-presenter.

In her latest chat with Curly Tales, Mandira Bedi spoke about her time as a presenter, getting appointed, and how the game was completely different two decades ago compared to today. While there was immense fame and love that came with the job, the tag also took some things away from her. Mandira recalls how being a presenter took a heavy toll on her acting career. She even recalls being told not to read any comments.

"We didn't have social media where you could see people's comments at that time. We did have the internet, but not like now. Sony kept me away from all this. They said, ‘You are not allowed to know what people are saying'. They shut all that out for me. What I did learn from the cricket time is that there'll be people who like you in life and then there will be people in life who won't like you. So the ones who like you, be grateful for them and the ones who don't, don't try and please them," Mandira Bedi said.

Mandira also spoke about starting her journey in the world of sports. "In 2002, India beat England and made it to the semi-finals of a tournament called the Champions Trophy… Now, because I love cricket, I decided to travel to Sri Lanka to watch the match. So, I booked a ticket for myself and reached there…" she recalled.

People at Sony were very curious to know why Mandira Bedi had spent her money to see the tournament because "at that time, they were flying celebrities down to watch the cricket," and they had her in mind as someone who is actually fond of the game. In the same interview, Mandira also recalled how the presenting gig took a toll on her acting career, where she stopped getting acting offers. She was rather approached for anchoring and MC jobs only. It was almost like people had forgotten she could act. She recalls how after working for eight years as an actor and then taking the presenter job, she had to remind people that, "You have forgotten, but I know acting, I am an actor. I started my career as an actor."