Sports
ICC makes doc on global development of cricket
MUMBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has released a television documentary that highlights the ongoing global development of cricket.
The 25-minute programme,produced by Three Feet High in association with the ICC, is aimed at emphasizing the work of the Pepsi ICC Development Programme and showing just how far the great game is spreading around the world within the ICC’s 94 Associate and Affiliate Members.
Says ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat, “It’s important that we spread cricket across all corners of the world. It’s amazing how much interest there is in the game and, therefore, we have an obligation in some sense to provide people with the opportunity to access it. So from every respect, including a strategic objective of the ICC, the global growth of the game is very important.”
The international success of cricket in Ireland in recent years has been documented with special highlights. Cricket Ireland Development Manager Brían O’Rourke recalls that interest in cricket wasn’t always so high in Ireland and that the Pepsi ICC Development Programme has played a key role in the game’s expansion there.
“We didn’t have any equipment or any sources when we were starting out. But a lot of assistance came through ICC‘s development programme. We received simple things like materials for schools, posters, as well as equipment, and more recently have been able to send our better players to (ICC) academies. So now we are able to move from a participation focus and concentrate more on performance,” says O’Rourke.
Cricket’s popularity in East Africa is also featured in the documentary, with particular focus on the 40,000 cricket participants in Uganda. National team captain Junior Kwebiha talks about cricket’s rise in his country.
“ICC has helped cricket develop a lot in Uganda, right from the grass roots to the national teams. Crowds are building as people get to know more about the game, and we are working with the ICC to have more cricket, more teams and more tours,” says Kwebiha.
The show is being provided free of charge by the ICC in order to promote and highlight the amount and quality of cricket played around the world, outside of the ICC’s Full Member countries.
Sports
Diamond Raja gets the Sunrisers dancing in Netflix’s latest IPL campaign film
Sunil Grover’s beloved character pulls the Hyderabad squad into an alternate universe in the newest instalment of Netflix’s Chill Like a Champion series
Mumbai: The final over is done, the bats are racked and the Sunrisers Hyderabad dressing room is ready for its real entertainment to begin. Netflix, the official entertainment partner of the Sunrisers, has dropped the latest film in its Chill Like a Champion campaign, and it is loud, daft and very deliberate fun.
The film opens with the squad unwinding after a long day on the field by tuning into Netflix, where they stumble into Diamond Raja, Sunil Grover’s scene-stealing avatar from The Great Indian Kapil Show. One moment they are slumped on sofas; the next, they have been pulled bodily into Diamond Raja’s world, all high-energy choreography, theatrical excess and a custom, lyrically reworked version of his signature song, Slowly Slowly. The rewrite doubles as a tongue-in-cheek nudge to slow down, switch off and enjoy the moment. Cricketers Ishan Kishan, Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head are all swept along for the ride.
The film is stuffed with winks at fan-favourite Netflix titles, including Pushpa and the K-drama When Life Gives You Tangerines, threading cricket’s biggest downtime into the streamer’s broader content universe.
Grover, for his part, seems to have relished every second of it. “Netflix has certainly surprising ways to inspire and excite you as an artist,” he said. “This collaboration brought together the best of two worlds, cricket and entertainment. Coming together with the stellar cricketers Ishan Kishan, Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head was such a delightful experience. Getting to bring Diamond Raja into this mix was an interesting way to make this even more special. It is playful, happy, it is dramatic, and it shows how entertainment can completely pull you into another world. Just like what Netflix does.”
The Chill Like a Champion campaign spans several films, each catching cricket’s biggest names in their post-match, unheroic best, hooked to a screen and very much off the clock. The Sunrisers film is the latest addition to the series.
Netflix describes itself as one of the world’s leading entertainment services, offering TV series, films, games and live programming across genres and languages, available anytime, anywhere.
Diamond Raja is back, the Sunrisers are dancing and, if Netflix has its way, so is the rest of India.
