Kasturi Naidoo’s India connection dates back over a hundred years. Fondly known as ‘Kass’ in cricketing circles, Kasturi is a young South African woman, who has been enjoying her role as a commentator in the ongoing South Africa-India cricket series.
Elaborating on her relationship with Indian roots, she says, “My mother’s father was born in Venkojipalem in a town called Anakapelli in Visakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. He sailed to South Africa in 1910 at the age of five. They travelled on the Umzinto, which took 45 days to reach Port Natal Harbour. From there, they were transported to Mount Edgecombe.”
Talking about her mother, Kasturi shares, “In 1968, my mom went to India by ship on a six-month journey. She visited Anakapelli and toured large parts of India. She went back to India in 1993 and 2007 on pilgrimages. My grandmother also came from Yellamanchili in Visakapatnam. They came with lots of relatives and made a life for themselves by working hard. My mother, Bugwathie married my dad Sannasy Naidoo in 1973 and had three children.”
As someone who has never played cricket, it would have been tough for Kasturi to break into the industry. “Being a woman in a man’s world made the challenge steeper,” she says, before adding, “What helped was that I understood the role that I played. Whether I was presenting or commentating, I was a facilitator of information from some of the greatest cricket experts in the game. What an absolute honour to work alongside them, and learn from the best.”
Over the years, Kasturi has been mentored by former English cricketer Robin Jackman. She says, “When I got the opportunity to host the post-match presentations, I had no clue what to do. Robin walked me through the process, introducing me to the match referee, sponsors, administrators, etc, and he talked me through the running order. I walked out to the middle, and did as he told me. I got regular feedback from him. I am grateful for his input during those early years.”
Notably, Kasturi’s commentating journey started when she was barely 14. “I fell in love with cricket when I heard a West Indian woman, Donna Symmonds, commentate, I knew it was what I wanted to do. At the time, cricket in South Africa was white and male-dominated, and I felt a need to be more involved in the game. Commentating seemed a good way to help connect people who love cricket,” she recalls.
What was then, she made great headway by learning everything about the sport and made her international commentary debut in 2006 at the Hong Kong Sixes. Kasturi has also hosted international post-match meets several times now. Recalling how she landed her first hosting break, she says, “I went for an audition to Topsport (now SABC Sport) and was later trained by veteran broadcaster, Martin Locke, who advised me to do something else. He was afraid I would be found out because I hadn’t played the game. Considering that I had worked for more than a decade to achieve this dream and then to be given a chance, there was no way I was going to give up. A few months later, I was called with news that I would be hosting the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup.”
Kasturi has hosted four world cups for SABC Sport since 2003 and is currently their anchor-cum-commentator for the India-South Africa tour.
Married happily since 2004, the optimist hopes to achieve a lot more now that her three children - Daniel (9), Ella (6) and Luke (4) - are older. Although her father passed away in 2012, Kasturi’s mother’s is still alive.
She fondly tells us that Daniel is a budding cricketer and wants to play for South Africa some day. He shares his birthday with AB de Villiers.
Away from cricket, Kasturi runs South Africa’s only dedicated online women’s resource called gsport4girls. “The aim of the initiative is to raise the profile of women’s sport in the country and encourage the corporate sector to back our female athletes. The gsport awards take place every year and this year we are planning to host the 13th edition. The awards are a part of SA government’s national women’s month programme in August every year,” she says.
Kasturi, who earlier visited India in 1997 for an international youth conference, signs off by revealing that it is her ‘dream to commentate in India’.
