"I was an ambitionless, drifting teenager....": Ian Bishop shuts down troll criticising his commentary
Feb 10, 2024
New Delhi [India], February 10 : Responding to a troll criticising him for his commentary, former West Indies cricketer and commentator Ian Bishop opened up on the reason why he will not stop praising and hyping performances of up-and-coming players through his platform.
Bishop, who has played 127 international matches and picked up 279 wickets for West Indies from 1988-1998 as a pace bowler, transitioned to a commentator following his retirement. His electric commentary, charismatic voice, and iconic quotables over the years have given him a lot of popularity among fans. A key feature of his commentary is his knowledge of up-and-coming cricketers and how well he hypes them up after a good performance.
Recently on X (formerly Twitter), Bishop was a target of trolling during the ICC U19 World Cup semifinal between Pakistan and Australia.
A user had said, "Ali RAZA is a super star ... says @irbishi as RAZA takes eighth wicket ... cliffhanger this #AUSvPAK semi is shaping up into."
To this, another user remarked that Bishop has a habit of making a 'star' out of everyone, referring to commentators' 'Remember The Name' call for all-rounder Carlos Braithwaite after he guided West Indies to ICC T20 World Cup title against England after smashing four sixes in four balls of the final over.
"Yes Ian Bishop makes every 2nd player a superstar yaad hai na "Remember the name" Braithwaite kaha hain ab. Don't start making future stars of every other player hold your horses," said the user.
To this, Bishop replied on Friday that as a teenager who got his shot at senior cricket, he was "ambitionless and drifting" and it was words from seniors like Phil Simmons, Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner and Michael Holding that made him believe in himself. He also said that he will never stop passing these words forward to other up-and-coming stars.
"I was an ambitionless, drifting teenager when I first played senior cricket with Phil Simmons, against Marshall, Garner & later, Holding. I heard they'd said nice things about my game. That inspired me to believe in myself. I'll never stop passing that on to others," said Bishop. 
Notably, India will take on Australia in the final of the ICC U19 World Cup on Sunday at Benoni.
