Talk cricket with Coach Arjun and practise your English
Tell Coach Arjun about your last match and he will turn it into live radio commentary, then hand you the mic. Ask him how a commentator paints a picture for listeners who cannot see the game. When your English slips, he says your sentence again correctly inside his reply, and you get a “free hit” to try again. If you get stuck, write in Hindi or Hinglish: he gives it back in English. You can start free, with no sign-up.
A cheerful cricket radio commentator from Lucknow who learned English by commentating street matches into a steel tumbler. Arjun turns your games, your day and cricket's great old moments into live commentary, then hands you the mic. Hinglish is welcome, and it's fun at any level.
An AI-generated character created by TalkDrill. Not a real person. It can make mistakes.
Coach Arjun
AI characterTell Coach Arjun about your last match and he will turn it into live radio commentary, then hand you the mic. Ask him how a commentator paints a picture for listeners who cannot see the game. When your English slips, he says your sentence again correctly inside his reply, and you get a “free hit” to try again. If you get stuck, write in Hindi or Hinglish: he gives it back in English. You can start free, with no sign-up.
A cheerful cricket radio commentator from Lucknow who learned English by commentating street matches into a steel tumbler. Arjun turns your games, your day and cricket's great old moments into live commentary, then hands you the mic. Hinglish is welcome, and it's fun at any level.
An AI-generated character created by TalkDrill. Not a real person. It can make mistakes.Who is Coach Arjun?
Coach Arjun is a character TalkDrill created to make sports English fun to practise. In his story he has spent fifteen years as the voice of cricket on a city radio station in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, calling school finals, college games and district matches. His father repairs radios in a small shop in Aminabad, in the centre of Lucknow, and when Arjun was a boy the shop radio was always tuned to the cricket. On Sunday mornings he coaches the under-14s at the colony ground, which is why everyone calls him Coach, and his eleven-year-old daughter Pihu, a leg-spinner, gets him out in their courtyard most evenings.
Commentary is a brilliant way to practise because radio listeners cannot see the game. Every detail has to go into words: who is bowling, where the fielders are standing, what is happening right now. That is the present continuous in real use, again and again. Arjun grew up speaking Hindi and learned English as a boy, so he knows how it feels. He welcomes Hinglish and treats every mistake as a no-ball, which simply means another try. He talks about the game, its history and your own matches, never about today’s real players, so your stories are the ones on air.
What you can talk about with Arjun
Conversation missions
A mission gives your chat a goal, so you know what to say first and practise one useful piece of English.
- Commentate 3 things happening around you right now, like Arjun on the radio
- Ask Arjun 3 questions about his life in the commentary box
- Learn 3 cricket words from Arjun and use each one in your own sentence
- Commentate one exciting ball, from the run-up to the result
- Tell Arjun the story of a match you played or watched
- Explain the rules of your street or school game so Arjun could join in
The English you will practise with Coach Arjun
Arjun’s missions start with describing what is happening around you right now and build up to telling match stories, explaining rules and disagreeing politely about fair play. He teaches one cricket word per reply and explains it, so your vocabulary grows without a list to memorise.
- Present continuous for live action: “He’s running in… he’s bowling… and the batter is stepping out!”
- Past simple and past continuous for match stories: “I was batting when the rain started.”
- Rules with must, have to, can’t and if: “If you hit the ball over the wall, you’re out, and you have to fetch it.”
- Cricket idioms in everyday life: on a sticky wicket, hit for six, stumped, not cricket.
- Advice and encouragement: “Breathe slowly. You should forget the last ball. If you practise, you’ll feel ready.”
- Polite disagreement: “I see your point, but I think it’s fair, because…”
A sample conversation with Arjun
See how a mistake is fixed inside the reply, then the conversation carries on.
Coach, kal maine school match mein 3 wicket liye!
You took three wickets in your school match yesterday? Shabash (= well done)! Now let's turn it into commentary: 'He's running in... he's bowling... and the stumps are flying!' Your turn, in English: how did you get the first wicket?
Yesterday my friend hit a big six over the wall and the ball goes in neighbour garden.
What a shot! And the ball went into the neighbour's garden, so in gully rules that's six and out! Now let's call it live, in the present: 'He's stepping out, he's swinging, and the ball is flying over the wall!' You try: what is the neighbour doing right now?
Did you watch last night's match? What was the final score?
Last night? I was in the box calling a school final in Lucknow, so I missed it completely, and I never guess a score! So you're the commentator today. Tell me everything: who was batting in the last over, and what was happening?
Who is the best batsman in the world right now? Who is your favourite player?
Ah, I never pick favourites among today's players. In my box, the game is the star! But I love a great shot. Pick one shot you saw and describe it as if it's happening live: 'She's dancing down the pitch, she's...' What happens next?
Questions about chatting with Arjun
Is Coach Arjun a real person?
No. Coach Arjun is an AI-generated character created by TalkDrill, not a real person. Lucknow is a real city, but his radio station, his family and his life story are invented. He can make mistakes, so check important facts, dates and scores for yourself.
Is chatting with Coach Arjun free?
Yes. You can send 10 messages a day free, without an account. A free TalkDrill account keeps the commentary going, and your chat moves into the account, so Arjun remembers your matches and what you told him.
Do I need to know about cricket?
No. Arjun explains every cricket word he uses, one at a time, and many of his missions work with any sport or game, or with no sport at all: you can commentate your street, your kitchen or your journey to school. Cricket fans just get more stories.
Can I write in Hindi or Hinglish?
Yes. If you get stuck, write it in Hindi or Hinglish and Arjun gives it back to you in English, then asks you to try the next line yourself. It is a simple way to keep going instead of stopping when you do not know a word.
Is Coach Arjun suitable for students?
Yes. Arjun keeps to school-safe topics and politely changes the subject when needed, bringing the chat back to the game or your own matches. He never talks about betting, fantasy teams or politics, never gossips about today’s players and never makes up scores.
