The 30 seconds you see, the 30 hours you don’t: Inside the life of a sports presenter

For most fans, a sports presenter appears on screen for a few minutes, asks a few questions, smiles at the camera and disappears. What viewers don't see are the hours of preparation, the frantic last-minute changes, the constant pressure of live television, the battle against stereotypes and the endless stream of social media criticism waiting after every broadcast. Sports presenter Ayushi Shekhawat has experienced all of it. Today, she is a familiar face across cricket and sports broadcasts, but her journey into sports wasn't part of a grand plan. In fact, when Star Sports first approached her, she turned them down. "I thought it was a prank call," she laughs.

At the time, Shekhawat was working in television news and had spent years building her career as a journalist. Having covered politics, entertainment and current affairs, she was finally beginning to establish herself in political journalism, a beat many newsroom professionals regard as the pinnacle of television news. "I always wanted to be a news anchor. I started with reporting during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and then moved into anchoring. I worked with Zee, News Nation, India News and Bharat24. Sports was never really part of the plan," she says.

Like many journalists, she carried preconceived notions about sports broadcasting. “In the news industry, there is often this mindset that if you're not good enough for politics, then you'll be given sports or entertainment. I also had that mindset. I had worked very hard to get into political coverage and debates, so when sports came calling, I wasn't interested.” But the opportunity refused to go away. Star Sports returned with a second offer. They explained that they were looking for someone who was already comfortable in front of the camera and could handle live television without extensive training.

“They told me, 'You're young. Try it. If you don't like it, you can always go back to news.' That made sense.” What followed was a rigorous audition process involving video submissions, interviews and multiple rounds of assessments. “There was no shortcut. I had to pass every audition and every test. Star Sports doesn't work on references. You have to prove yourself.” Eventually, she got the job. And that's when she discovered that sports broadcasting was far more demanding than she had imagined.

The homework nobody sees

Ask any sports fan what a presenter does and the answer is usually simple: talk to players, ask questions and host the show.

According to Shekhawat, that's only a tiny fraction of the job. “People only see the presenter on television. They don't see the preparation behind it. There is a whole team working. There is research, production, planning, rehearsals and last-minute changes.” Preparation starts long before the cameras roll.

Presenters need to know team combinations, player statistics, recent performances, injuries, tactical trends and storylines. And unlike a scripted television programme, live sports can change in seconds. She recalls a recent broadcast where the show's entire structure had to be changed minutes before going live. "We had prepared the show around a particular player. At the last moment, the playing XI was announced and he wasn't even in the team. Suddenly someone else was playing. If I don't know who that replacement player is, what his form is or what he did in the previous match, then what questions am I supposed to ask?"

That constant need for preparation extends beyond cricket's biggest stars. While working on domestic leagues, Shekhawat often finds herself researching emerging cricketers who are making headlines for the first time. "Every day a new player is performing. Someone scores the first century of his career. Someone wins a game for his team. So I speak to people connected with the league, coaches, players and team staff. You have to keep updating yourself all the time."

The chaos inside an earpiece

One of the most underrated skills in sports broadcasting is managing information overload. During a live broadcast, presenters are constantly receiving instructions through their earpieces while simultaneously conducting conversations on camera. "In news, usually only the producer talks to you. In sports, it's completely different. The producer is speaking, the director is giving instructions, cameras are changing and there is noise everywhere."

The challenge lies in filtering what matters. “At one moment, you have to listen carefully to what the guest is saying because you need a follow-up question. The next moment, you need to ignore the guest and focus on the producer because he is giving directions. Then you need to listen to the director about camera movements.” This ability to process multiple streams of information simultaneously is something she compares to being in a crowded room. "You need to train your brain to focus on one voice among ten different voices. That's actually a very important skill for a presenter."

More than just looking good

Perhaps the biggest misconception about female sports presenters is that their job revolves around appearance. Shekhawat doesn't deny that appearance matters in television. What frustrates her is how often audiences ignore everything else. “People see the glamour. They don't see the work.” She points out that women in broadcasting often spend significantly more time preparing before a show than many viewers realise. "If my pre-show is at 2 pm and I need to leave at noon, I have to wake up three hours earlier. Hair, makeup, wardrobe, preparation, research, all of that takes time. Those hours aren't counted as working hours, but they're still work."

Broadcast standards also create expectations around appearance. “You have to maintain your hair, nails, makeup and dress code. You're standing for hours in heels. You're interviewing athletes who are much taller than you. Everything has to look right on camera.” But while viewers notice the clothes, they often ignore the preparation. "Even after doing all that homework, people still comment on what you're wearing instead of what you're saying."

Fighting stereotypes in sports

For women in sports media, the challenge goes beyond ordinary criticism. According to Shekhawat, many viewers still assume that female presenters know less about sport than their male counterparts. "Every Indian boy has grown up playing cricket. So there is already this mindset that women don't understand the game as much. Before you even speak, some people have already decided that you don't know cricket."

This means female presenters often find themselves having to prove their knowledge repeatedly. “People don't want to listen to what you're saying. They've already formed an opinion.” She remembers reading comments such as, “The smaller the skirt, the smaller the IQ.” "It's very easy to comment on a girl's appearance," she says. "That's become normalised."

Learning to ignore the noise

Like most public figures, Shekhawat has experienced her share of trolling. And like most young broadcasters, she initially took it personally. “I used to lose sleep over comments. I would think, 'Why are people saying this? What did I do wrong?'” Today, her perspective has changed. "If people can troll Virat Kohli and Harsha Bhogle, they can troll anyone."

She says sports taught her how to handle criticism. One example that stayed with her was watching Hardik Pandya face relentless abuse from fans during his difficult period as Mumbai Indians captain. "Imagine being booed on your own home ground. But he kept performing. Then he helped India win the World Cup and suddenly the same people were praising him."

The lesson was simple. "Shut people up with your success."

The social media dilemma

Modern presenters face another challenge that previous generations never had to deal with: social media. According to Shekhawat, having a strong online presence has become almost mandatory. “People ask me how many followers I have before they ask me about my work.” She believes the rise of digital platforms has created opportunities but also increased pressure.

Many leagues now prioritise social media reach when selecting presenters because online engagement helps generate visibility.

“There are times when people don't want to know what work you've done. They want to know your follower count.” Ironically, despite having hundreds of thousands of followers, Shekhawat doesn't consider herself a social media enthusiast. “I still think social media should be about sharing moments with friends and family.” She admits she often laughingly clashes with her team when they want heavily edited photographs. "I like posting raw pictures. They want brighter colours and polished edits. I keep telling them, let's keep it natural."

Advice to the next generation

So what does it actually take to become a sports presenter today? For Shekhawat, the answer is a combination of knowledge, communication skills and adaptability. “Sports knowledge is important. But knowing something and presenting it on television are two different skills.” She recalls asking Star Sports why they selected her despite her limited sports background. "They told me: Sachin Tendulkar knows cricket better than anyone, but that doesn't automatically make him the best commentator. Playing and presenting are different skills."

Her advice to aspiring presenters is straightforward: Learn the sport. Get comfortable in front of the camera. Practice speaking. Create content. Learn how broadcasts work. Develop the ability to listen, think and react quickly. Most importantly, don't let criticism consume you. If she could speak to her younger self, the message would be simple. "Relax. Go with the flow."

Too much of her early career was spent worrying about criticism, office politics and opinions she couldn't control. Today, she focuses on what she can control, preparation, performance and growth. And perhaps that's the biggest lesson from her story. The glamour of sports presenting may attract attention. But staying in the industry requires something far more valuable: resilience. Because behind every polished television appearance lies an unseen world of preparation, pressure and persistence that viewers rarely get to witness.