If you’re an Indian cricket fan, you’ll never get tired of watching the final moments of the Gabba heist, when a sumptuous straight drive from Rishabh Pant sealed the Border-Gavaskar series. Getting bundled out for 36, bereft of the regular captain for the next three games, losing another half a dozen starters, copping bouncers and insults in equal amounts but still walking out victorious; there was no dearth of a redemption arc in this series.
Cinema loves a tale of redemption. This is one of the reasons we already have two documentaries chronicling the all-conquering side, the latest being Neeraj Pandey’s web series Bandon Mein Tha Dum. Pandey, who directed the biographical drama Dhoni, and the movie Kaun Pravin Tambe, was the right man to take on this ambitious project.
“The series of matches happened during the coronavirus pandemic. The way the test series unfolded and the whole journey panned out, it was remarkable. It was about individual stories, about team effort, people playing through injuries and much more. There were so many stories within a story during this particular series,” Pandey told Firstpost.
Released on June 16th on OTT platform Voot, the documentary has been well received by both fans and cricketers alike. R Ashwin shines through in the first two episodes, recounting the events with wit and eloquence. He proved to be the nemesis for Steven Smith on the entire tour, and copped numerous blows on his body to salvage a draw in the third Test.
“A story very close to my heart; Bandon Mein Tha Dum is finally on @VootSelect Excited for you to see the struggle behind our story and enjoy it as much as we did,” wrote Ajinkya Rahane on Twitter.
Rishabh Pant talked about how he missed out on a century in Sydney after Cheteshwar Pujara advised him to deal in singles and doubles. Pant said: “Pujara had put me in a double-minded state by telling me to slow down by taking singles and doubles”.
Some fans were disappointed that the documentary didn’t include Vivek Razdan’s iconic commentary after Pant’s winning boundary.
Featured Image Credit: BCCI
