Milind Wagle started his professional journey in 1975, and during his 50-year career, he has established himself as an accomplished commentator, philographer, and collector.
Milind Waghle’s life defines passion, patience and pride but with all humility. He dreamt of becoming a commentator and with his sheer dedication and hardwork he established himself as a prominent sports commentator.
“I did not realise that I would reach this far. That I am good is with pride, with humility and not with arrogance.”
A 10-year-old boy decides to become a commentator
In 1964, young Milind went to listen to a talk by India’s cricket legend Vijay Merchant. A commentator himself, Vijay Merchant’s presentation inspired him so much that he told his father, at the age of 10, that he would become a radio commentator.
“So that was the first impression. The second was the society where I was staying. As a 10-year-old boy, the elders, would not take me to play cricket in the lanes. So I would sit on the wall of the society and I would give commentary. My elders inspired me by shouting, ‘Come on Milind give us a better commentary.’ And I think that spurred me.”
Application to Doordarshan
The fire inside him kept burning. Therefore, in 1973, when Bombay Doordarshan Kendra was set to launch, Wagle wrote an application letter to the producer for a job as a commentator.
“I think my application to become a commentator went into the wastepaper basket. A few days later, when I met my producer (the same person to whom I had given my application) in Pune, he requested me to do ten programmes for Doordarshan. He added that if he liked those programmes then he would offer me a job without an audition. I did accordingly, but there was no response. Suddenly, after almost three months, I received a call from the producer asking me to join Doordarshan as a commentator of Sports Round Up. So that’s how I started. On the 2nd of October 1975, I anchored my first programme on Doordarshan.”
From cricket to two and a half dozen sports
It was a memorable first day on Doordarshan that is still etched in his memory. He sat beside his childhood hero AFS Talyarkhan, the man who brought to cricket broadcasting a rich, fruity voice and a fund of anecdotes.
He was nervous; he knew that he could not afford to make a mistake and did not make one. Gradually, Milind Wagle started cementing his place as a sports commentator. Along with Sports Round Up, his producer started giving him commentary stints.
“I would go and do commentary in a cricket Kanga League match or a Times Shield match with a one-camera set-up or a two-camera set-up. Or I would go and do athletics. So this is where I started with two sports and over 50 years I am now commentating on about two and a half dozen sports, besides cricket.”
Difference between Commentating on Radio and Television
Though radio came a bit later to him, Milind Wagle did not face difficulty in adjusting to the new medium. He understood that while commentating on the radio, he had to paint a picture to the listeners. It is through his voice, that the audience got a clear picture of the ongoings in a far-off land.
“I have done a television commentary in the morning at some place between 9 o’clock and 2 o’ clock and in the evening I had done a radio commentary. So adjustment is the principle of life.Television and radio commentary on the same day in just an example.”
The memories that he has made
There are thousands of memories that he has made throughout his career as a commentator and choosing one or two from them is difficult for him. But Milind Wagle tried to recollect some and the first one that came to his mind is of a Nagpur test match.
He went there representing All India Radio but unfortunately, AIR did not get permission to cover the match. Resultantly, Wagle was quite depressed. Incidentally, Brian Johnston, the world-famous commentator noticed a disappointed Milind sitting in the box next to him. In the evening, Johnston himself came up to him and after hearing the whole incident, took an initiative which Milind Wagle could never think of.
“He spoke to his producer and the producer allowed me to do a 15-min stint of commentary with Brian Johnston everyday for the next four days.”
When Donovan Bailey asked for Sunil Gavaskar’s autograph
During the Athens Olympics, Milind Wagle approached champion runner Donovan Bailey for an interview. For five days he refused to give the interview but on the sixth day himself approached Milind.
“On the sixth day, he asked me if I am an Indian or a Pakistani. He said, if you are an Indian, I’ll give you an interview because do you know Sunil Gavaskar? So I said, yes I know Sunil Gavaskar very well. So he said can you get me Sunil Gavaskar’s autograph. I said he would easily give. I will go back and get the autograph and send it to you. He said, promise. I said, promise. He gave me his interview. Now why did he became Sunil Gavaskar’s fan, I asked him. He mentioned. He said as a young boy he grew up in Jamaica. In ’71 where Sunil Gavaskar got 774. Then he migrated to England and then he saw Sunil Gavaskar play. So these are moments and these are the memories which money cannot buy.”
Milind Wagle- The Philographer
From an early childhood, Milind Wagle developed the hobby of collecting autographs. His first autograph was of Ajit Wadekar which he took when Wadekar represented the Indian Universities team against Ted Dexter’s MCC team. Little did he know at that time, that this hobby would permanently prevail and he would one day be a proud owner of over 15000 autographs.
“I also have a logbook of all the flights. So one to two thousand nine hundred flights that I have now taken , I have the flight number, the sector, the push back , arrival at the airport , commander- his autograph, copilot- his autograph. I haven’t missed any.”
But he is disappointed with the fact that India does not respect the legacy. His huge collection of autographs- from sportsmen to leaders, from army generals to politicians, from business tycoons to artists- is lying like an unheeded treasure.
“Autograph collection, I think is very precious. My daughter and my son, unfortunately, do not have any intentions of keeping that treasure. So I intend, hopefully, to auction it and give the money to charity. You will be surprised that this is a country where we do not respect legacy. The BCCI, for example, does not have a museum. Today you go to London, you go to Lord’s Cricket Ground and you go to the museum. There’s someone who’s starting a museum in Indore, Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association. And I plan to give my autographs to them.”
Milind Wagle’s life and work is itself a story. But he never fails to express his gratitude to those who had made this possible.
“I owe it to everyone. My grandparents, my parents, my wife who has sacrificed so much. The love and affection and the sacrifices that my family has made, to all my producers who have encouraged me. There are opportunities which I didn’t have 50 years ago. So today grab those opportunities. Believe in yourselves, be truthful, be ethical, enjoy what you do and don’t sulk. Look forward to the darkness going away and the sun coming up the next morning.”
