BBC Sport’s Nikesh Rughani was named Sports Journalist of the year at the 10th Asian Media Awards.
Nikesh is the lead commentator on the BBC’s coverage of the Indian Premier League on 5Live and has reported on international cricket for 5Live Extra/TMS.
The 2022 awards celebrated the achievements of journalists, broadcasters and leading creative industry professionals.
The Sports Journalist of the Year award is supported by 6G Internet and was presented on stage by broadcaster and presenter Harpz Kaur.
Afterward he commended his fellow finalists, “There are some outstanding calibre of people in the category.
“I pretty much know all of them on the list and I have worked with several of them.
“We are blessed in the UK to have so much British Asians do what they love and following sport and talking about it for a living.”
Speaking of how he got into the profession he added: “It is hard work. It is about making contacts. It is a very competitive world.
“But if it is your passion, get as much work experience as you can, whilst you are studying. It does not matter what you are studying, it does not have to be journalism.
“During your holidays go to your local radio station, go to the sports desk and keep badgering them until they give you that two or three weeks of work experience.
“Make those contacts because those contacts are vital.”
Most recently, Nikesh has worked on the South Africa men’s T20 series and the Hundred for TMS. As well as his work on the BBC he has also become one of the core international cricket commentators for SEN (Australia) and SENZ (New Zealand).
He launched an Indian cricket podcast on the new 99.94 network and continues to report on top level football for BBC Final Score on BBC One, most weekends.
In addition to this he reports on Premier League football for Sky News Radio, IRN and RTE Ireland.
The 2022 ceremony hosted by Sky Sports News presenter Bela Shah saw special awards for LBC News host Lisa Aziz, BBC 5Live broadcaster Nihal Arthanayake and acclaimed TV and stage actor Kulvinder Ghir of Goodness Gracious Me fame.
The awards honoured journalism, online, radio, TV, creative media, stage, theatre and live events in 23 categories and was back at the Hilton Manchester Deansgate where the first awards took place in 2013.
The University of Salford are the Premier Partners for the awards which aim to shine a light on the accomplishments of media professionals from across the UK.
The 2022 Asian Media Awards winners of all categories and special awards were revealed at the Hilton Manchester Deansgate on Friday October 28.
Previous recipients of an Asian Media Award include Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Waris Hussein, Art Malik, Mehdi Hasan, Nina Wadia, Anita Rani, Shobna Gulati, Faisal Islam & Adil Ray.
The University of Salford are Premier Partners to the Asian Media Awards.
Partners to the awards include ITV, MediaCom, Reach PLC, Manchester Evening News & TheBusinessDesk.com.
The awards are also supported by Manchester Metropolitan University, AMT Lawyers, DKR Accountants, 6G Internet, Hilton Manchester Deansgate, Fritz AV, Payal Events & Cleartwo.
