To watch Team India’s victory, like the one in the Champions Trophy finals, doesn’t mean just watching the match.
It means binge-watching the coverage on TV or online, for at least 12 hours, like you would an OTT limited series. Cricket-nama is more than a sport, it’s a soap opera, it’s all about family: The family of cricketers and the lovers of Indian cricket who laugh and cry, chant and sing, dhol and dandiya dance to the beat of their hearts.
The family that eats and breathes and gorges on cricket like we do food at a festival feast. We, the people, who offer prayers before and during the match—caught on TV, hands folded in the stands, beseeching, “Please, let Kohli be not out”.
To enjoy watching the ball-by-ball TV coverage of a match like this—when an unbeaten Indian team defeated New Zealand in the Champions Trophy 2025—is only half the game.
The other part of the fun is the sideshow provided by the BCCI (Board of Cricket Control in India), news media and social media to keep us glued to screens for hours, never mind that you end up with a sore throat or a sore back(side).
Cheerleaders on TV
First, there is the before-play. That’s when you go to Jio-Hotstar and watch the highlights of India’s earlier victories during the tourney. It’s a warm-up exercise, preparing you for the tension ahead.
Then, the TV news channels set the scene. Before the Champions Trophy final match, from early Sunday morning, they talked about the ‘mother of all cricket contests’ (Times Now) in ‘cricket’s summit clash’. The channels were full of good cheer and positive vibes: ‘India has to beat New Zealand’, (News 18 India), ‘India will be champions’ and ‘Ro-Hit, Ro-Hit’ crooned India TV. ‘Today, we will celebrate Holi’, said TV9 Bharatvarsh, ‘India victory is guaranteed’.
To boost our confidence, ABP News had the army in Jammu, drumming out its support, while TV9 and India TV informed us that the public in Pakistan was also backing Team India: “No doubt, India will win”.
Commentary box to pitch
Next, it’s playtime, folks. This is when you watch, listen to the cricket commentary and add your own opinion on the progress of the game, advise the Indian players and break into some unprintable expletives when things seem to be going wrong.
The Hindi commentary team is quite reassuring. They greet every ball bowled by the Indians with superlatives— “Bahut achchi gaind aur yeh… 4 run!”
The Indian contingent in the English commentary team consists of Harsha Bhogle alongside former cricketers Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and Dinesh Karthik, all of whom seem to be as comfortable in the commentary box as they were at the batting crease.
By now, we know their commentary style so well that most of us can imitate their stock phrases. Such as, “Like all great players, he has so much time to play his shots”, “He is toying with the bowling”, “It’s all in the wrists”, “(Rohit Sharma) has this lazy elegance”, “He makes it look so easy”, “He is in the zone”, “Amazing what a couple of wickets can do”, “Is there another twist in the tale?”, “Their body language says it all.”.
For approximately seven hours, you rise and fall with the ebb and flow of the game.
Also read: TV news was incensed at Ranveer Allahbadia’s ‘cringe’ remark—only to telecast it ad nauseam
Endless celebrations
Game over. India has won. “The crowds have gone berserk,” said one commentator after India beat New Zealand by four wickets. Time to switch off and return to our lives…right?
Not at all. This is when Part II of the cricket drama begins—`yeh dil maange more’—and thanks to BCCI, sports channels, news channels, and social media, more is exactly what we get.
This is where the ‘we are family’ frenzy kicks in, the real party. At home, we jumped up along with Ravi Shastri in the commentary box and the Indian team on the field. The camera was careful to seek out captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
The news channels were back with banner headlines, ‘Congrats Champion of Champions’ (NDTV), `India romp home to victory’ (India Today), and `Kiwis surrender’ (India TV). Guest experts such as former cricketers Kapil Dev, Madan Lal, Saba Karim delivered post-match analysis praising the team.
On the field of play, Star Sports was running around in circles to interview the players—this is the part we enjoy as much as the match. Here’s KL Rahul “happy to get over the line”, Ravindra Jadeja’s “always the hero or zero”, there’s an “ecstatic” Shreyas Iyer with rocks in his ears (“Will you get new ones?” a presenter asked him) and Virat Kohli with his arm around Shubham Gill said, “It’s been amazing.”
That led us to the ceremonial presentations and interviews with the captains—we watched, wide-eyed, as players shrugged themselves into their white blazers with a little help from BCCI Chairman Roger Binny. And everyone waited to see who would get a hug from the boss of all bosses, Jay Shah.
Then, the players whooped it up with the cup in their hands, and our eyes began to blink with sleep. But wait on. There’s also the after-party. We watch Rohit Sharma with his family, Virat Kohli with his wife Anushka Sharma—and then, Anushka hugged Rohit to congratulate him. Oh, too much.
Social media is flooded with video grabs of Rohit and Virat’s dandiya dance, Sunil Gavaskar dancing alone, Rishabh Pant dancing with Gill’s father, Hardik Pandya dancing bhangra with Navjot Singh Sidhu, Sidhu trying to get Gautam Gambhir to dance, Virat touching Mohammed Shami’s mothers’ feet. On and on it goes and we fans devour it with joy.
Finally, it was Rohit arriving at Mumbai airport, reaching home. home and a BCCI video of him posing with the cup and Jay Shah— “We are champions again with your support…this is for you,” he said looking us in the eye.
We could watch it all over again…
The author tweets @shailajabajpai. Views are personal.