'Fire in Babylon' fails to glow
Ajaz Ashraf, in the Dailytimes , writes that the movie Fire in Babylon turned out to be a slight disappointment in its attempt to apply a political narrative to the golden age of West Indies cricket, when probably there wasn't one.
Devashish Fuloria
25-Feb-2013
Ajaz Ashraf, in the Dailytimes, writes that the movie Fire in Babylon turned out to be a slight disappointment in its attempt to apply a political narrative to the golden age of West Indies cricket, when probably there wasn't one.
But really, isn’t Riley guilty of exaggeration? Couldn’t it be that the stupendous performance of the West Indies cricket team and its consequent salutary impact on its people have persuaded Riley, as also the players, to read meanings which did not exist as overtly in the past as they do in his film? National and racial pride can inspire stellar performances now and then, but to vanquish all the teams in the world for nearly 20 years requires both gifted players and an inexhaustible pool of talent. Can nationalism inspire, say, Bangladesh to become overnight the conquerors of the cricket world? I think not.
Devashish Fuloria is a sub-editor with ESPNcricinfo