Manish Dev Bhasin (born 21 May 1976 in
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
, England) is a
sports journalist
Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...
and presenter broadcasting for Premier League Productions as the face of the Premier League's global coverage to over 700 million viewers as well as the
BBC in the UK. He was the presenter of the former sports programme providing coverage of the
Championship,
League 1 and
League 2
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
match highlights;
The Football League Show, which ran from August 2009 to May 2015.
Early career
Manish graduated in 1997 from
Anglia Ruskin University with a degree in "Communication Studies with English" and completed a diploma in "
Broadcast Journalism" at
Cardiff University
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, image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University
, motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord
, mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord
, established = 1 ...
. He spent five years at
BBC Radio Leicester as sports presenter/commentator including the drive time "Drive at 5" programme presenting the latest news and sport. During this period his highlights include reporting from
Leicester Tigers
Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby.
The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...
' last minute victory in the 2001 Rugby European Cup final (Leicester Tigers v. Stade Francais) and the following year at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium (Leicester Tigers v Munster).
Manish joined ITV's
Central News East in 2001, where he presented in-depth coverage of the region's essential sport, including a comprehensive analysis of the financial crisis at Leicester City. During his tenure Manish was nominated for "Regional Sports Presenter or Commentator of the Year" at the Royal Television Society Sport Awards and presented ''Soccer Sunday''.
BBC
In February 2004, Manish joined BBC's ''
Football Focus'' team, a weekly magazine style show that previews the weekend's top football action. At the start of the following season, he became the main presenter of the show, replacing
Ray Stubbs to become the show's youngest regular host at the age of 27.
In addition to his football roles on ''Football Focus'' and now ''The Football League Show'', Manish has emerged as the BBC's primary cricket presenter, hosting highlights of the
2006–07 Ashes Series
The 2006–07 cricket series between Australia and England for The Ashes was played in Australia from 23 November 2006 to 5 January 2007. Australia won the series and regained the Ashes that had been lost to England in the 2005 series. The five ...
, the
2007 World Cup, the
2009 ICC World Twenty20
The 2009 ICC World Twenty20 was an international Twenty20 cricket tournament organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) that took place in England in June 2009. It was the second ICC World Twenty20 tournament, following the inaugural ...
tournament and the
2011 Cricket World Cup
The 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup was the tenth Cricket World Cup. It was played in India, Sri Lanka, and for the first time in Bangladesh. India won the tournament, defeating Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the final at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, thus ...
. He also presented highlights of the
Africa Cup of Nations
The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...
2006 on
BBC Three and combined his duties as the presenter of Football Focus with a roving reporter's role during the
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...
.
Manish has also presented "
Your News" on the
BBC News Channel in addition to presenting on the channel for a week in February 2008.
Manish made a return to the BBC News Channel on 24 July 2008 and now appears to be one of the many regular stand-in news presenters on the channel. At the start of the
2009–10 English football season, Manish was chosen to present the BBC's new
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
highlights package. From January 2010 onwards, he also became presenter for the Midlands edition of the regional football show ''
Late Kick Off''.
Manish presented World Cup group stage matches shown on
BBC Three in 2014. He did the same for Euro 2016 on
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002 .
Manish also occasionally hosts Match of the Day 2 on BBC One on Sundays in the absence of its lead presenter Mark Chapman
Premier League Productions
Prior to the 2016/17 season, Manish hosted some episodes of Premier League News, as part of Premier League Production's global content service. He also filled in occasionally for
John Dykes on Matchday Live.
From the 2016/17 season onwards, Manish started hosting Matchday Live on Fridays and Saturdays, with John Dykes becoming commentator for the 3pm 'Goal Rush' commentary on Saturday.
Personal life
Manish is married to Anushka Chaudhry. He is a supporter of
Leicester City.
[http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/body_and_soul/article564346.ece/ Times Online interview]
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhasin, Manish
1976 births
Living people
People from Leicester
Alumni of Anglia Ruskin University
British association football commentators
British sports broadcasters
Alumni of Cardiff University
BBC sports presenters and reporters
British people of Indian descent