Mandira Bedi reflects on facing disrespect and judgment as a cricket presenter: “they had to show some respect on screen”

Mandira Bedi, who broke barriers in sports broadcasting by becoming one of the first prominent female cricket presenters in India, recently opened up about the difficult road she had to navigate in a male-dominated field.

In a candid interview with Zoom, the actor and anchor recounted how her debut as a cricket presenter during the 2003 World Cup was met with skepticism—not just from audiences, but from within her own panel.

“It was hard to begin with,” she recalled, adding that being a pioneer came with intense scrutiny. “When you’re the first person who does something that is different, you are under a lot of scrutiny. So people will, you know, judge you… People will hate you. It’s going to be a mixed bag.”

Despite a tough first week on the job, an intervention from the internal broadcasting team offered her much-needed encouragement. “They sat me down and said, Listen, no pressure on you. We’ve auditioned a thousand women to get to you, so we know you have it in you,” Bedi shared. That moment, she said, helped shift her mindset. “Heaven and hell is in your head. You flip that switch… and from everything being a disaster, everything just became, ‘Wow, who gets a chance to do this?’”

Over time, she began winning over skeptics. “I managed to change a few people’s minds about me,” she said, reflecting on how viewers started recognising her as “Mandira” instead of her TV character roles. Her on-screen identity as a confident and capable anchor had taken root.

However, the transformation wasn’t limited to public opinion.

The harshest criticism, she revealed, often came from her fellow panellists. “The judgment actually came from the people who were on the panel. They were not very accepting of me,” Bedi said. She described how her questions would often be ignored, leaving her feeling invisible. “I did feel very disrespected, and I didn’t like the way I was… I felt very excluded.”

Following the intervention, she decided to stand her ground. “I said, I’m here to stay... So I would ask whatever it is I wanted to ask. And it being live television, if they didn’t answer, I’d ask it again. Eventually, they had no choice but to listen, even if they didn’t respect me as a person, they had to show some respect on screen.”

With time, the working relationship improved. “Eventually, they realised she’s not going to back off… Towards the end of it, it was just so much fun,” she recalled. The shift in energy was evident to viewers as well. “When you see a panel that’s having fun, the audience sitting at home also has fun.”

Even so, Bedi was not spared from online trolling. Initially, the network shielded her from negative commentary until she was more comfortable in her role.

Once she did read the remarks, the vitriol was hard to ignore. “It doesn’t feel nice to be called a bimbo or an airhead or a dummy. But they said stuff like that about me.” However, by that point, she had found her footing. “I was like, You know what? I’m here and I’m finishing this tournament and I’m having fun.”

Mandira Bedi, best known for her breakthrough role in the 1994 TV series Shanti, has also acted in popular Hindi serials such as Aurat, Dushman, and Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. Her transition into sports broadcasting saw her host several major cricket tournaments, including the 2003 and 2007 ICC World Cups, the 2004 and 2006 Champions Trophies, and the Indian Premier League on Sony Max.

Most recently, she appeared in the 2025 Malayalam film Identity.