Pallavi Sharda On Her New Innings As A Cricket Anchor

The very Australian,remotely Indian Pallavi Sharda who made her Bollywood  debut with the disastrous Ranbir Kapoor starrer Besharam, is now on to a new phase in her multi-faceted career.

The pretty Pallavi now anchors the Indian Premier League’s T20 cricket show on Sony Entertainment’s Extra Innings.

Pallavi who was born and brought up in Australia actually began her career as film actor in a film about cricket.

“My Australian film Save Your Legs where I play the lead is about the Australian cricket team touring India, their trials and tribulations. It’s an out-and-out comedy. It’s set in India but it’s an Australian production.And now here I am am anchoring the  IPL show for Sony,” says Pallavi.

The actress has always been interested in cricket. “I am of Indian origin. I was born and raised in Australia. Both countries are crazy about cricket. I grew up in an environment where the game was constantly discussed. My brother is a cricket player.I was fully into all the technicalities of the game.”

It  was Ayushmann Khurrana her co-star in the disastrous purported epic  Hawaizaada, who recommendedPallavi for the anchor’s role in Extra Innings. “During the shooting of the film we were once discussing the finer points an Australia-Pakistan match. He wanted to know how I knew so  much about cricket.”

Pallavi was approached for by Sony Entertainment while she was in New York. “I was doing workshops for a film in New York when Sony Entertainment approached me. I was immediately interested in doing the job.”

Not that it was a completely new vocation for Pallavi. “I have a degree in broadcast journalism and like I said a deep interest in cricket, though I’ve never played the game , only observed it.”

She’s quick to point out she is not a commentator on the show. “I don’t sit in  the commentary box.I am an anchor.And I am enjoying every  bit of the job,”

She is grateful to her Australian upbringing for being able to be in so many places doing so many different things. “My parents are both IIT students. I too am an LLB graduate .They migrated to Australia in the 1980s and became lecturers. Bharat Natyam and Bollywood  were part of my growing-up years. My Indian-Australian heritage is very important to me. So it’s really gratifying that I’m able to work in both the environments. I am not closed to working in any part of the world.”