Shaiju Damodaran
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Shaiju Damodaran (born 7 February 1973) is an Indian sports commentator, sports journalist and columnist who, as of 2022, is the leading
Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...
commentator for Star network (Malayalam) on their
Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...
(ISL) coverage. , he has commentated on more than 500 ISL games, which is the highest by any commentators in any language in the ISL.


Early life and career

Shaiju Damodaran is the son of A. I. Damodaran and Lalitha Damodaran. He attended high school at Ochanthuruth and completed his pre-degree at The Cochin College, Kochi, then studied for a
Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
in
economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...
at St. Paul's College, Kalamassery. He later completed a Post-Graduate Diploma in journalism and mass communication at Kerala Media Academy, Kochi. In 1995, Shaiju started working as a journalist at ''
Mathrubhumi ''Mathrubhumi'' is a Malayalam newspaper that is published from Kerala, India. It was founded by K. P. Kesava Menon, an active volunteer in the Indian freedom struggle against the British. The word "Mathrubhumi" translates to 'mother land'. ...
'' in
Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...
, specializing in
cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
and
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
, and later became a senior sub-editor. After working for 20 years, he resigned from ''Mathrubhumi'' to work as a special correspondent for Kochi-based firm '' Mangalam Publications'' in 2015. , Shaiju works as a sports journalist; he has covered 10 Santosh Trophy National Football Championships, more than 400 ISL games, national and international cricket matches including the
Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy is a premier domestic first-class cricket championship played in India and organized annually by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The teams representing regional and state cricket associations participate. BCCI ...
, Deodhar Trophy and Duleep Trophy. He has also covered all of the
One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...
cricket games in Kochi.


Commentary career

Shaiju started his career as a sports commentator in 2012, covering the 2012
Celebrity Cricket League The Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) is an exhibition men's cricket league in India. It consists of eight teams of film actors from different film industries of Indian cinema. The league commenced in 2011. Salman Khan is the brand ambassador ...
(CCL) season, which he covered for the next two seasons. He was chosen as the leading commentator in Malayalam for the inaugural season of the ISL. Ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, Star Network decided to include Malayalam commentary and Shaiju was engaged as the leading commentator. In 2017, he became the first person to complete 200 matches as an ISL commentator. In the same year, he commentated for the
2017 ICC Champions Trophy The 2017 ICC Champions Trophy was the eighth edition of the ICC Champions Trophy, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was held in England and Wales from 1 to 18 J ...
's final between India and Pakistan. In 2018,
Sony ESPN Sony ESPN was an Indian pay television sports channel which was a joint venture between ESPN Inc., ESPN and Sony Pictures Networks. The channel targeted the Indian subcontinent including India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. It was part of th ...
engaged Shaiju as the leading Malayalam commentator for the FIFA World Cup in Russia; it was the first Malayalam commentary of a
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...
. During the tournament, Shaiju's commentary of
Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Saudi Pr ...
’s 87th-minute free-kick goal against Spain captured the attention of football fans across the globe and became viral on social media. In January 2019, Shaiju later did the Malayalam commentary for the
2019 AFC Asian Cup The 2019 AFC Asian Cup (or commonly called the Asian Cup 2019) was the 17th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international association football, football championship of Asia organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) ...
, which was held in the
UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...
. He also commentated for India's numerous friendly football games. In December 2020, he recreated the commentary for
Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona Franco (30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional association football, football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two ...
's 'Goal of the Century' in the
1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...
in Malayalam by the request of Victor Hugo Morales, and had aired in
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
through Radio AM 750.


Commentary style

Shaiju's commentary style consists of energetic phrases peppered with aberrant uses and one-liners. He usually intersperses his commentary with famous dialogue from movies. Shaiju has said his reaction is automatic and he uses a mix of language in his commentary, saying; "It comes naturally to me when the action calls for it. It’s an emotional display rather than a verbal expression. I think people like it". Fascinated with Shaiju's commentary on Ronaldo's free-kick goal,
Mahindra Group Mahindra Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate, headquartered in Mumbai. The group has operations in over 100 countries, with a presence in aerospace, agribusiness, aftermarket automotive components, construction equipment, defen ...
executive chairman
Anand Mahindra Anand Gopal Mahindra (born 1 May 1955) is an Indian billionaire businessman, and the chairman of Mahindra Group, a Mumbai-based business conglomerate. The group operates in aerospace, agribusiness, aftermarket, automotive, components, construc ...
tweeted:
Ok that’s it. I’m switching to this channel with commentary in Malayalam. No, I don’t understand the language but I don’t need to—these guys are so pumped up they make the English & Hindi commentators sound tame!


Controversy


Personal life

Shaiju is married to Asha and the couple lives in
Kaloor Kaloor is a city in the Kochi, city of Kochi, in the Kerala, state of Kerala, India. It is from the Ernakulam Town railway station, Ernakulam North Railway Station. Kaloor Junction is also the name of a major intersection in this part of the ci ...
, Kochi, with their children Abhinov and Adhinov.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaiju Living people 1973 births Indian male journalists Indian sports broadcasters Indian cricket commentators Journalists from Kerala Association football commentators Indian columnists