John Dykes lands the role of Mandira Bedi (below)

A prolific career as a sports presenter with ESPN STAR means that John Dykes travels for most part of the year, but India is one of the countries closest to his heart. In town as a judge for the auditions of the second edition of Clinic All Clear Dream Job, John spoke to t2...

How has the Indian experience been so far?

It’s been wonderful. India is one of my favourite places. I would love to visit the country more often, but my work commitments don’t allow me to do so. I have been to Chennai and Delhi, but this is my first visit to Calcutta and I am loving every moment of it.

What has your impression of Calcutta been so far?

I couldn’t make it to the Dream Job auditions in the other Indian cities, but I was keen on coming to Calcutta. This is the city of football and is therefore of great interest to me as a football presenter. I have worked with Bhaichung (Bhutia) earlier and he has done a lot for Indian football. Calcutta is a city which is passionate about sports and I have heard that in a match between the green-maroon and the red-yellow (Mohun Bagan and East Bengal), Salt Lake stadium is packed to capacity. I am not going to tell you whom I support because I know that the city is very clearly divided in terms of which team it roots for (smiles).

How is life as a sports presenter? Very hectic, believe me (smiles), but I enjoy every moment of it. Being a sports presenter is my idea of a dream job. The experiences that it brings with it, the people I get to meet and the countries that I visit as part of my job all make it worthwhile.

In Dream Job auditions, what qualities are you looking for?

The first thing that I am looking for is passion — passion for sports and the passion to excel. Also, a candidate needs to be spontaneous, well spoken and should have a certain amount of charisma. He should be able to connect with the TV viewer because that’s what his job is all about.

How have the Calcutta candidates been?

We have seen quite a few decent ones already, among which one is a psychiatrist! Two candidates, aged 18 and 51, stand out in my mind. Both knew they wouldn’t make it past the auditions, but it was wonderful to see the passion and the drive. That’s what we are looking for.

Unfortunately, we have seen just one female candidate. We need more Indian women to get involved in sport.... Seeing Mandira (Bedi), I am sure a lot of young women in India will look at taking up sport and sports commentary as a career option. I seriously believe that women are on a par with men in every field. Men need women to rein them in (laughs). I don’t know whether I should be saying this, but I have had the opportunity of working with Geoffrey Boycott and knowing how straightforward he is, things with him can get a little awkward at times. However, one person who Geoffrey never messed around with was the woman producer of the show we were working on. She knew how to rein him in (laughs).

Priyanka Roy