Pallavi Sharda's new innings

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 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 an 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, anchoring the IPL,” 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 Hawaizaada, who recommended Pallavi for the anchor’s role in Extra Innings. “During the shooting of the film we were once discussing the finer points of an Australia-Pakistan match. He wanted to know how I knew so much about cricket.”

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

Not that it was a completely a 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-ians. I too am an LLB graduate. They migrated to Australia in the 1980s and became lecturers. Bharatnatyam 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.”