Laxman to make commentary debut in India vs Australia series

VVS Laxman is all set to make his debut as a commentator as leading Sports broadcaster Star Sports has roped in the former Indian batsman in its line-up of commentators and analysts for the Test series between India and Australia beginning in Chennai on Friday.

Apart from Laxman, the line up includes a host of former cricket stars like Alan Border, Shane Warne, Matthew Hayden, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Ravi Shastri.

STAR Sports has also launched a full-fledged campaign, with the core theme 'Asli Test Baaki Hai', to promote the forthcoming Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

The campaign has been developed to build up the new Team India as it faces its toughest test against the most redoubtable of cricketing oppositions - Australia.

The sports broadcaster has also lined up an expert panel of cricketing stars who will do commentary as well as studio analysis on every match day in English (STAR Cricket & STAR Cricket HD) and Hindi (STAR Sports).

Sanjay Gupta, Chief Operating Officer, STAR India Pvt. Ltd, said, "Through the BCCI season we have been focusing on a New Team India with its new set of heroes. While we applaud the new talent we are also cognizant that in the future they will have to face a lot of stern tests before they can truly become world beaters. The overarching creative thought comes out from this - 'True heroes only emerge from the toughest battles'.

"Further our approach to the presentation of Indian cricket has also been a game changer in many ways. We have created a brand new Hindi presentation in addition to the existing English one to take the game to newer audiences in a language and idiom that they comprehend", he said.

"We have brought in a world-class line-up of talent with stars like Navjot Sidhu, Kapil Dev and Ramiz Raja joining their illustrious compatriots like Gavaskar, Shastri, Border, Warne, Hayden, Akram, Harsha and others. We're delighted to welcome VVS Laxman on board the STAR Sports commentary, presentation and analysis team", Gupta said.

The TV presentation will be augmented by a strong web offering through starsports.com allowing consumers to get in the game online.

"Our aim is to take the viewership of this game to a whole new level - be it through our compelling campaigns, quality of talent, look and feel of the presentation, multi-platform delivery or through promoting it across the STAR network," he said.