As the CEO of a tech giant, one is expected to wear many hats, but Google CEO Sundar Pichai has donned one of the most unusual ones yet — that of a cricket commentator.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai popped in for a while in the commentary box for the fifth India-England test match being held at Oval. Pichai is a known cricket fan, and sat next to Harsha Bhogle on live commentary while India were batting with a commanding lead.
Pichai spoke of his love for the game. “I ran into Sunil Gavaskar at the stadium, and I had a poster of him in my room while I was growing up,” Pichai said on commentary. He also added that he was a big fan of Sachin Tendulkar, but could barely bear to watch him bat because he would be too nervous.
Pichai said that he still found time to follow the game. “I catch highlights. I listen to you on Cricbuzz, and I follow podcasts and commentary on YouTube,” Pichai told Harsha Bhogle.
Pichai has himself been to a part of cricket history — he revealed that the first ever game he’d seen live was the 1986 tied test in Chennai between India and Australia. “The first game I ever saw live was the Chennai tied test,” he said. “I was there on the last day, and randomly saw one of the two ever tests in the history of the game that were tied. That’s what got me hooked to cricket,” he said.
Pichai said he’d followed the India-England series. “What a series it’s been. Loved the fight between both teams. At this point, I’d put money on a 2-2,” he said, predicting that India would prevail in the decisive fifth test.
Washington Sundar was batting while Sundar Pichai was on commentary, and that elicited an anecdote out of Pichai. He said that after Washington Sundar’s exploits in Australia in the 2021 series, the teams in Google Australia had been calling him “California Sundar” to tell him apart him from Washington Sundar. “They call me “California Sundar” to disambiguate,” he joked.
Pichai seemed to be a natural in the commentary box. At one point, Harsha Bhogle complimented him for pausing speaking while the ball was being bowled, and only resuming when it had been bowled. “I’m sitting next to the best,” Pichai laughed.