With the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in full swing, cricket fever has once again gripped the nation. The roar of the crowd, the dazzling sixes, and the nail-biting finishes – it’s a thrilling time for cricket enthusiasts. However, what do you do when there’s no live action to watch? You turn to OTT, of course! The streaming platforms offer quite a collection of cricket-based documentaries. Whether you’re a die-hard cricket fan or just curious about the sport, there’s something for everyone to enjoy in these five picks.
The Test: A New Era for Australia's Team (2020)
The Test, originally titled The Test: A New Era for Australia’s Team in its debut season, is an Australian documentary series created by Amazon Studios for Amazon Prime Video. Co-produced by Cricket Australia, this delves deep into the world of the Australian men’s cricket team – from inside the dressing room to inside the minds of the think tank.
In its first season, viewers are taken on a journey that explores the team’s quest for redemption, guided by the leadership of captain Tim Paine and head coach Justin Langer. This quest unfolds over a span of 18 months, commencing after the infamous 2018 Australian ball-tampering scandal. In the second season, the series continues to chronicle the team’s experiences following a change of guard at the top (both captain and coach), capturing the events in the latter part of 2021 and the start of 2022.
Stream it on: Amazon Prime Video
Cricket Fever: Mumbai Indians (2019)
Cricket Fever: Mumbai Indians, a 2019 Indian sports documentary web series, offers an in-depth look at the Mumbai Indians, the super-successful Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, during the quest to defend their 2017 crown in the 2018 season. This series, which marked the debut of Condé Nast Entertainment in international production, made its global debut on Netflix on March 1, 2019. It also became the first Indian sports documentary available on Netflix. Comprising eight engaging episodes, the series commences with the 2018 IPL auction and culminates with MI’s final league stage match, as they fall short of making the playoffs.
Stream it on: Netflix
The Edge (2019)
From 2009 to 2013, the England Test team underwent a remarkable transformation, climbing from the depths in the rankings to become the first English side to reach the coveted ICC world number one spot. The Edge offers a captivating, humorous, and emotionally charged glimpse into the tumultuous journey of the players. The documentary showcases never-before-seen footage from that period and features fresh interviews with the likes of Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott and Andy Flower. What makes this one special is that it does not just spotlight the success story of an extraordinary winning machine, but also the toll that the unrelenting pressure and intense scrutiny takes on both body and mind.
Stream it on: Amazon Prime Video
Death of a Gentleman (2015)
Death of a Gentleman is a 2015 documentary on the controversial shift of power in cricket; the domination of the sport’s governance by the ‘Big Three’ within the International Cricket Council (ICC) – the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Cricket Australia (CA), and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). They, goes the argument, are primarily driven by their financial interests, often at the expense of other Test-playing nations, and notably, the associate countries aspiring for Test status.
Directed by the trio of Sam Collins, Jarrod Kimber and Johnny Blank, Death of a Gentleman features insightful interviews with a wide range of personalities from the world of cricket – Ed Cowan and Tony Greig, Gideon Haigh and Michael Holding, Jonathan Agnew and Chris Gayle, Lalit Modi and Kevin Pietersen.
Stream it on: Netflix
Beyond All Boundaries (2013)
In 2013, director Sushrut Jain brought us Beyond All Boundaries, a Hindi-language cricket documentary narrated by Kunal Nayyar, best known as Rajesh Koothrapalli in The Big Bang Theory. Set against the backdrop of the 2011 World Cup, the film follows the struggles and aspirations of three individuals.
First, we meet Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary, an unemployed cricket enthusiast whose undying love for Sachin Tendulkar makes him attend every home match played by Team India since 2007. Next, the documentary introduces us to Akshaya Surwe, a young woman from Mumbai with a dream of making it to the Indian women’s team. And finally, we are introduced to Prithvi Shaw as a 12-year-old cricket prodigy who lost his mother when he was just three.
Stream it on: YouTube
