Overview
Rajdeep Sardesai is an Indian journalist, news presenter and author known for his long career in television news. He has worked with leading Indian broadcasters including NDTV, CNN-IBN and the India Today Group, and has authored books on Indian politics and elections. He is widely recognised for anchoring election coverage and political talk shows on English-language news television.
Key facts
| Name | Rajdeep Sardesai |
|---|---|
| Profession | Journalist, news anchor, author |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Education | St. Xavier's College, Mumbai; University of Oxford (law) |
| Notable employers | The Times of India, NDTV, CNN-IBN (Network18), India Today Group |
| Notable roles | Editor-in-Chief, IBN18 Network; Consulting Editor, India Today |
| Father | Dilip Sardesai (Test cricketer) |
| Spouse | Sagarika Ghose (journalist and author) |
Background
Rajdeep Sardesai was born into a well-known Indian family. His father, Dilip Sardesai, was a Test cricketer who represented India and is regarded as one of Goa's most prominent contributors to Indian cricket. Rajdeep was educated at Campion School and St. Xavier's College in Mumbai, before reading law at the University of Oxford. He briefly practised at the Bombay High Court before moving into journalism.
Career
Print journalism
Sardesai began his career in the late 1980s with The Times of India, where he worked as a city reporter and later as City Editor of the Mumbai edition.
NDTV
In the mid-1990s he joined New Delhi Television (NDTV), then producing news content for Doordarshan and later for STAR News. At NDTV he served as Managing Editor and was a prominent face of the channel's political and election coverage.
CNN-IBN and Network18
In 2005 Sardesai co-founded the English news channel CNN-IBN as part of the Network18 group, serving as Editor-in-Chief of the IBN18 network, which also included IBN7 and IBN-Lokmat. He anchored flagship programmes and led the channel's election coverage during this period. He stepped down following the takeover of Network18 by Reliance Industries in 2014.
India Today Group
Sardesai joined the India Today Group as Consulting Editor, where he hosts political and election programming on India Today Television and writes a weekly column for the group's publications.
Books
- 2014: The Election That Changed India – an account of the 2014 Indian general election and the rise of Narendra Modi.
- Democracy's XI – a book on Indian cricket told through the lives of eleven cricketers.
- 2019: How Modi Won India – on the 2019 Indian general election.
Recognition
Sardesai has received several Indian journalism awards over his career, including recognitions from the Asian Television Awards and the Indian Television Academy. He was conferred the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian honour, by the Government of India in 2008 for his contribution to journalism.
Significance
Sardesai is regarded as one of the leading figures of English-language television news in India during its expansion in the 1990s and 2000s. His work in launching CNN-IBN helped shape the format of multi-channel English news coverage in India, and his election broadcasts and political interviews have been a recurring feature of national political reporting.
Related topics
References
- Wikidata entity: Q3521617
- Government of India, Padma Awards announcements, 2008.
- Publisher catalogues for 2014: The Election That Changed India, Democracy's XI and 2019: How Modi Won India.