Subhash Bhowmick: On-the-ball analysis. Picture by Amit Datta

The gamble had paid off for the sports broadcaster during the Asia Cup and UEFA Euro 2004 coverage. ESPN STAR Sports now hopes that turning localisation into the key component for its FIFA Confederations Cup 2005 telecast will manage to reap similar benefits.

And helping the sports broadcaster in its endeavour to turn regional will be East Bengal coach Subhash Bhowmick, in the role of a commentator and analyst. ?It will be a great experience and education for me,? Bhowmick said at the announcement on Friday.

?I write columns where one gets the time to think and analyse before putting anything down, but this will be very different.? Bhowmick will be based in Singapore during his stint with the broadcaster.

Bhowmick, along with journalist Novy Kapadia and commentator Ghaus Mohammed, will feature in ESPN STAR Sports? Hindi programming package for the eight-nation soccer tournament, which gets underway in K?ln, Germany, on June 15.

?We plan to shatter the Hindi language barrier truly and completely,? said Sricharan Iyengar, vice-president (sales & marketing), ESPN Software India. ?There would be live Hindi commentary, pre and post-show programmes with Indian commentators and an Indian host,? he added.

ESPN STAR Sports tasted viewership success with Hindi during the UEFA Euro 2004 and English Premier League telecast. ?Hindi commentary helped us open up non-traditional soccer markets like UP, Gujarat and Punjab,? Iyengar explained.

The channel has plans to further explore commentary options in other regional languages, including Bengali. ?Technically, we can provide the telecast in four different languages. We already have a Tamil feed for Formula One and will look at other sports for localisation,? said Himanshu Verma, director (corporate communications) of the company. ?By World Cup 2006, we should be in a position to offer the content in Bengali,? Verma added.

The Confederations Cup 2005, deemed to be the stage rehearsal for the World Cup next year, will feature Argentina, Germany, Japan, Brazil, Tunisia, Australia, Greece and Mexico. The tournament will be played in N?rnberg, Leipzig, K?ln, Hannover and the new Waldstation in Frankfurt, the venue for the final on June 29.

While Germany and Brazil qualify automatically (as host and the World Cup winner), the other six made it through success in their FIFA confederations.