On a lazy Saturday afternoon, broadcaster Charu Sharma was having lunch with his family at his home in Bengaluru when his old friend and IPL chairman Brijesh Patel called him up. He was asked to rush to the IPL auction venue as soon as possible to fill in as replacement of Hugh Edmeades who had collapsed from the stage midway through the event before being attended to by the medical team.
Charu, who has conducted auctions before but never for IPL, suited up and in nearly 20 minutes, was at the venue where he was briefed on a short notice before taking the centerstage.
“I don’t live too far from the hotel,” Charu told Sportstar. “So Brijesh called me and said, ‘just put on some clothes and run’… I was there in just 15-20 minutes. They briefed me for a bit and then we were on.”
While Charu was a bit nervous, he had no problem. “Brijesh is an old friend, so when he called, I had to go. And as a professional, I have done it before. When everything is ready, there is no problem…” he said.
Charu is a well-known sports broadcaster and was also the CEO of IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2008. “I am also a regular auctioneer and have held a lot of auctions for several other leagues, except for the IPL. I was only doing what I did in the past,” he said.
Charu was entertaining guests at his home and wasn’t even watching the auction and thus was unaware of what was transpiring at the venue.
“I don’t think there were too many complications in the system that were set for the auction. The auction itself has a pattern, and the rest is all structured. Once you have a structure in place, it is not very complicated. But yes, still one expects certain butterflies in the stomach, but given the fact that I have done commentary stint for the past 40 years if I still have butterflies in my stomach, then when will they ever go away?” he said.
