Cricket is just opening its arms for documentaries that reveal the behind-the-scenes stories of squads.
Last year, we had documentaries featuring the Mumbai Indians squad and, of course, the comeback story of Chennai Super Kings was also released in 2019.
Both those documentaries covered the inside views of the two Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises. At some level, they were not as self-critical as they were self-indulging. You had the perfect seat to the inner workings of the two IPL franchises, but there was still something amiss.
You pined for a bit more, because you hardly get access to the teams these days. With so many gatekeepers around the cricket squads, the most we get to see is when the social media handles of the players or sides put out stuff.
So, when Australia came up with their version of behind the scenes (BTS), called The Test, there was a lot of interest and excitement. It is an eight-part journey which covers the life of the Australian squads from the fall at Cape Town in early 2018 to the highs of retaining the Ashes in 2019. The heroes of the story are new coach Justin Langer and Test captain Tim Paine.
Aus Team Focussed on Kohli
But even as they focus on eulogising the efforts of Langer and Paine, it is almost a left-handed compliment to Virat Kohli and his team that a lot of focus is also on the Indian skipper.
There is almost a grudging respect for the Indian captain and his abilities with the bat.
They realise that Kohli is a man who has the kind of impact with the bat that very few individuals have had in recent years.
Kohli is almost the one-man hate-figure for the Aussie group, because he is almost like them. He takes on his rivals with the mouth as much as with the bat. You can sense that the 2018-19 tour of Australia by India was a low point for the leadership group of Langer and Paine. Langer points out that he is ready for his team to take on Kohli verbally – but only in terms of banter, no abuse.
Since the lows of the scandal in South Africa, Australia is almost trying to be the nice guys on the field. It is not natural to them, because they are known to really wear you down with verbals. So this new side of Australia is a little difficult to digest.
Paine himself decides to take on Kohli, and there is a method to the madness. Kohli has a history with the Aussies. On the 2011-12 tour of Australia, as a rookie in a team full of battle-scarred veterans, Kohli flipped his middle finger and took on the crowd. Then, on the 2014-15 tour, Kohli had a run-in with Mitchell Johnson.
The Australians think that Kohli has a swollen head, while the Indian captain believes there is not enough respect for him from his rivals.
But Paine’s own jibes at Rishabh Pant and his ‘request’ for Pant to turn baby-sitter for his kids are missed completely by the makers of the documentary.
If Kohli’s tirades are disrespectful, what would you categorise the job offer of Paine to Pant as?
It is a battle that is ongoing.
The perception that Kohli has a ‘big head’ does not go away by 2018-19, but the respect for his abilities has shot up.
Kohli, after all, was the same man who asked the crowd to clap for Smith during the World Cup clash against Australia. That part was conveniently edited out by the makers – for all his faults, Kohli deserves respect for standing up for his opponent.
There is, however, lot of admiration for Cheteshwar Pujara, who grinds Australia into handing India their first Test series win Down Under.
But you get a sense that the Aussies, while acknowledging the Indian victory, sort of suggest that the win by Kohli & Co is more due to the nature of the pitch. The entire series witnessed pitches that were almost Indian-like and there is almost a suggestion that their victory is because the 22 yards of battle field was just like home for Kohli’s boys.
Lack of Respect for Indians
The loss hurt Australia, but as an Indian cricket-watcher, you feel the lack of respect.
That was also the case with another documentary, the fabled ‘Fire In Babylon’.
That documentary spoke about the impact of West Indies’ pace battery on world cricket and their domination thereof. But the Test match where it started in Jamaica in 1976 against India is a downright insult to the group of brave Indian players that toured the West Indies.
With half the Indian team injured or in hospital, captain Bishen Singh Bedi had no option but to declare to save life and limb. The crowds rooting for India’s batsmen to be killed was a scary sight that those on the tour still talk about – this was all in revenge for India having chased down a record 402 for a famous win in the previous Test. But Fire In Babylon mocks Indians for ‘running away’ and ‘chickening out’.
Respect for Indian cricket achievements are sometimes hard to come by because there are always riders attached. Langer acknowledges the Indian cricket group that toured Australia in 2018-19 was amongst the best ever, but there could have been more from the Aussie coach.
Langer, The Star
This is a ringside view to the goings on about what happens within a squad. The camera crews have unlimited access to team meetings, hotel rooms, homes of players and staff. In many ways, it is unprecedented. The time frame of the entire drama is just about a year, but it covers a lot and shows the journey.
Paine’s leadership is sought to be put on a pedestal because of all the earlier reports that, after his comeback, Steve Smith was running the show from the slips in the Test matches during the Ashes – though there is a gripe over Paine’s decision-making in the final Ashes Test.
The star of the documentary is obviously Langer. He is the old-fashioned Aussie fighter who is prepared to take on the world for his side.
For someone who is the quintessential tough Aussie, it is interesting to see him seek outside help in the dressing room as he brings on Steve Waugh during the Ashes and Ricky Ponting during the World Cup. There’s even mention of a mathematician!
This whole series obviously was an attempt to change the image of the Australian team down in the dumps following the ball-tampering scandal to the day they retained the Ashes. It was an image-building exercise, which continued unnoticed for the last year even as the Aussies were trying to be the new good boys of world cricket.
There needed to be a bigger time frame for this journey to be catalogued, though what was captured was riveting enough, especially the return of Smith and David Warner.
The best part: the focus was more on the Test match format and it made you fall in love with the format all over again.
PS: The makers could stand to give the documentary’s subtitles a once-over. They do not not quite match in many places.
(Chandresh Narayanan is a former cricket writer with The Times of India, The Indian Express, ex-Media Officer for ICC and the Delhi Daredevils. He is also the author of World Cup Heroes, Cricket Editorial consultant, professor and cricket TV commentator.)
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