BOMBAY: India’s most famous sports writer, “Bobby” Talyarkhan, died of natural causes here July 13, sources in the Cricket Club of India said.
The 94year old Ardeser Furdo Sohrabji Talyarkhan had not only reported on and broadcast the most memorable sporting events of the day, but had also been the profession’s most sharp eyed critic.
When sports writing in India barely existed as a legitimate journalistic activity, Talyarkhan had reported memorable sporting events with racy descriptions and acerbic comments, conveying the heat and dust of sporting encounters.
Stepping into broadcasting was an almost natural offshoot of his writing career. Talyarkhan gave the first ever ball by ball commentary over All India Radio for the Parsis vs. Mohammedans match in November 1934 played at the Bombay) Gymkhana.
It proved a turning point for him as his authoritative expert tones filled the AIR.
In 1936 Talyarkhan was right on top of radio. He became very popular after his program, “The Week in Sports,” ran for six years.
It was Talyarkhan who mooted the idea of the first sports journalists association in the country. He succeeded also in finding employment for a number of young persons who liked sports and dropped in on him to learn if and how they could, be writers in the field.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 27, 1990
