Vinayak Padmadeo
Usually, by this time in May every year, Indian Premier League’s craziest fans are driven to feverish excitement. But this year, there’s no live action to watch on the telly or stadiums. Covid-19 has driven everyone indoors. Yet, people’s thirst for sport must be quenched. On TV, we’ve been served a slew of old matches, mostly re-runs of Indian cricket team’s glorious wins.
It does become dull after a while. Fear not, options are available — several over-the-top (OTT) platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime and even YouTube have made available sports documentaries that are a feast for fans.
A great test
Cricket fans would love The Test: A New Era for Australia’s Team, playing now on Amazon Prime. It tells the story of how Australia recovered from the Sandpapergate controversy, which led to bans on key players, such as captain Steven Smith and David Warner. Adrian Brown and his team followed the team for over 18 months, capturing the tribulations of the once-mighty Aussies.
The first season opens with Justin Langer’s appointment as the new coach, and we follow in rapt attention as he tries to ‘reform’ the Aussies, getting them to behave better on the field and yet play tough cricket. It’s a story of redemption — from a 5-0 thrashing by England to a 3-2 win in India to a creditable show at last year’s World Cup, where they reached the semifinals before losing to a rampaging England. The eight-episode documentary also shows how the players struggle to balance their aggression as they try to earn respect.
Kicking Around
Bobby Robson: More than a Manager (Netflix) catches the eye, too, chronicling the life of Sir Bobby Robson, who rose from being a young manager of a floundering Ipswich Town to manage Barcelona FC and finally Newcastle United. The story is told by an ensemble cast led by Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola, who was coached by Sir Bobby for a year! Even Brazil’s Ronaldo features extensively, as does the enigmatic Paul Gascoine ‘Gazza’, for whom Sir Bobby was a father figure.
Crash course
Williams is another story from the bygone era — the story of Sir Frank Williams, the only man left in Formula-1 who has a team named after him. Sir Frank practically built the team from ground up. For 10 years he scraped and survived — his brief career as a driver and mechanic helped — and founded Frank Williams Racing Cars. The story is riddled with horrendous accidents. Pierce Courage died in a crash in 1970, after finishing second twice. The team was not going anywhere.
‘I once saw Ginny (his wife Virginia Berry) give him eight pounds for fish and chips, but he bought eight spark plugs and disappeared for three days in his garage’ — this comment about him perfectly sums up those trying times for the team and the man. He sold the team to Walter Wolf, and the team won its first ever race six weeks later. He, alongside his long-time friend Patrick Head, then founded Williams Grand Prix Engineering. The new team went on to win six Formula-1 drivers’ championships and eight constructors’ title. This documentary is not only about racing; it is also about Sir Frank Williams. The 1986 crash, which almost killed Sir Frank, changes everything — forced to use a wheelchair as a paraplegic, he has to step back, but returns as team principal the next year. Now, even as the team fights to regain its glory days, Sir Frank remains a central figure.
Scoop that broke Russia
If you love insider stories, Icarus — directed by Bryan Fogel — should interest you. This is the story of the world of doping with a focus on Russia. It begins with Fogel trying to understand how dope cheats avoid detection. His meeting with Russian scientist Grigory Rodchenkov, then director of the Russian Anti-Doping Laboratory, leads to groundbreaking revelations — he got to understand how high-profile athletes cheat, and how government/authorities hide the cheating.
Fogel becomes a whistleblower when it dawns on him that his life may be in danger, and he quickly moves to the USA. The two tell the story to the New York Times, alleging Russia had organised state-sponsored cheating in the Olympics for decades. There’s an amazing revelation — at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, Rodchenkov, with help from the secret services of Russia, changed steroid-tainted urine of the Russian national team to evade detection — fascinating stuff!
Home turf
Closer home, Umeed India, hosted by Virender Sehwag, is eminently watchable. The 14 episodes feature the stories of stars such as Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat and, more importantly, non-glamour athletes such as judoka Avtar Singh and rower Dattu Bhokanal.
Good things are only a click away. Get cracking!
"Sporty" - Google News
May 18, 2020 at 09:10AM
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Keep up the sporty spirit - The Tribune India
"Sporty" - Google News
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