Vindhya Vishakha of Hyderabad, makes news as the Telugu IPL presenter

Vindhya Vishakha, a dynamic Telugu sports presenter, shares her journey from a cricket fan to IPL presenter.

It is the summer of 2024, and Vindhya Vishakha Medapati is back on the small screen for the ongoing star-studded Indian Premier League (IPL). Glamorous and spontaneous, Vindhya, one of the Telugu presenters — actor Nandu and anchor Ravi being the other two — has a way with words and numbers for Star Sports channel. A VJ, model and television entertainment host, Vindhya has created a space for herself in the niche cricket circuit.

“IPL 2024 is my seventh edition,” says Vindhya, who was the first female Telugu sports presenter for IPL in 2018. She adds that a presenter is a bridge between expert commentators and a cricket viewer. While experts (former cricketers) discuss strategies, technicalities and intricacies of the players’ game/team, a presenter tries to see a match through the viewers’ eyes, asking questions and clarifying doubts. Their interaction with stars coming to the television studios increases the excitement and boosts audience engagement.

Born and brought up in Hyderabad, Vindhya, an English literature student from Kasturba Gandhi Degree and PG College for Women was an extrovert with no stage fright.

Her television stint started in her college days, as a news presenter on HMTV in 2011, and grew to become a host, for entertainment, and game shows/programmes for Star Maa, TV9, Zee Telugu and ETV. Having played for the Darling Devils team in Kevv Kabaddi (kabaddi game show) on Gemini, she made her debut as a sports presenter for Pro-kabaddi (KBD Live Season 5) in 2017 for Star Sports (Telugu).

When Star Sports acquired the broadcasting rights of IPL and was looking for a Telugu sports presenter, Vindhya was not confident as cricket was a game she had only watched and cheered. She still went ahead to audition for the role with a ‘it is just an audition, not a real presentation’ attitude; being selected was a pleasant surprise to her.

Though a fan of the now-defunct Deccan Chargers franchise, she never thought of becoming a presenter, it was her cricket enthusiast husband Vishal, who was her huge support. Recalling their initial days of marriage, she says with a laugh, “Sometimes I used to see him watch a cricket test match at 2am and would jokingly say, ‘I am going to divorce you if you watch like this’ but when I got the IPL show offer, it was his turn to tease me and say, ‘God is there, I’m so happy he’s putting you in the right place.”

She has come a long way from being nervous and doing homework before a presentation. Having watched sports presenters Mandira Bedi and Mayanti Langer, Vishakha created her unique style. Interacting with experts and sports presenters of English, Hindi, Kannada and Tamil channels during breaks, watching a game with others and making notes have all been part of her learning experience.