2017 Update: India, Cricket & Vindalosers
It's been a while since our last update so you might think there hasn’t been much happening in the world of TippyTappy Sports. Nothing could be further from the truth. The last few months has seen an intensity of activity to rival the day before an essay is due. Flat panic, abuse of caffeine, self loathing and unfulfilled resolutions to never ever do that again. Ok that last bit might be more indicative of our time at university but hey, it’s part of the rich tapestry that is “making content”. Especially when you do so in India. And call the finished product: Vindalosers.
To give the briefest of recaps, we were lucky enough to have radio juggernaut Southern Cross Austereo come on board and partner with us to make a film in India about cricket; specifically, why it’s so hard for Australia to win at test level in India. We set out with the ambitious task of writing the blueprint for what the Australian test team – and indeed any test team – has to do in order to succeed in India. It’s good to think big. After all, there are 1 billion people in India.
Telling people prior to departure that we were off to India to make a film about cricket was universally met with the same question: have you been to India before? The pause between answer and response was no longer than a nanosecond but looking into people’s eyes during that moment was to relive a Homeric epic in all its glory. The fear, the expectation, the sheer wild eyed intensity as people waited to hear our response “no, never” was immediately replaced with a form of mystical almost transcendental pity – “You don’t know what you’re in for”. Indeed we didn’t.
The only thing more humiliating than being bowled about by a 12 year old is being bowled out by hundreds of 12 year olds. Indeed, we could still be in India and there would be kids lining up to have a crack at the Australian cricketing anti talent who put the pads on – plus an inner thigh pad for good measure – in a pathetic attempt to channel his inner backyard Steve Waugh from the early 90s. That’s not a clumsy dig about India’s huge population – we all know this anyway – but the sheer joy that cricket brings to the people of India is something to be witnessed first hand. Finding a cricket coach in Mumbai whose first lesson consisted of us eating ice cream is a long way from Mr Walker standing behind me with a stump aimed directly at my bum to stop me from backing away.
Travelling from Mumbai to Delhi to Vizag to Banglaore to Mysore, it was impossible not to be swept up in the pure enthusiasm for cricket – not cricket as highly paid professional sport but cricket as pure play; play that knew no age or gender but did know Facebook friend requests. In fact, we were in more selfies in our time in India than in our entire life. If cricket celebrity be the food of India, play on. Pass me the dhal though. What. Anyways, cricket in India is exhausting, intoxicating and no argument about a leg before wicket dismissal in street cricket – or gully cricket as it’s known – can’t be resolved over cardamom tea prepared by someone’s mother.
Clearly, we were on to something. Australia won the first test. They hadn’t come close to winning a test in India since 2004. Unsurprisingly, we took the credit for that victory. Our invoice to Cricket Australia remains unpaid. No wonder the organization is in turmoil if it can’t pay its critical suppliers let alone its players.
India is as crazy as we had been led to believe. And the Indians are as obsessed with cricket as people say. But don’t take our (written) word for it. Watch the film. Go on.
The preview can be seen here:
The full 30 minute extravaganza here:
For all the bonus clips, check out our Insta or Facebook. Of course if that’s too hard, just watch them all on the site here under “Video”.