Mandira Bedi Opens Up About Challenges While Hosting Cricket World Cup

Mandira Bedi, known for her roles in films and television, has revealed her struggles while hosting the cricket World Cup. Speaking in an interview with Humans of Bombay, she shared how cricket legends ignored her presence.

‘I was the only woman on the panel,” Bedi recalled. “It wasn’t easy because they had never had a woman sitting there before. The legends on either side of me weren’t thrilled about having a woman on the panel.’

Despite the challenges, Bedi continued to ask questions as instructed. ‘Some of my questions were considered silly or irrelevant, but my role was to ask what comes to my mind,’ she explained. ‘I represented the common person, not the cricket purists. The experience took a toll on Bedi emotionally. ‘I would sometimes cry and the people around me would just leave to get coffee,’ she revealed. ‘For the first week, nobody spoke to me. I was nervous and stuttering, lacking support.’