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India v Pakistan: The greatest cricket rivalry - A Netflix documentary

Seems it will be focused on India's 2004 tour of Pakistan. Which was a historic tour for a number of reasons. There's a fantastic book on that tour too called Pundits from Pakistan by Rahul Battcharya.
 
Sorry, but this is just a rubbish documentary. 3 episodes and i just finished hte first episdoe of 30 mins.

There is no proper story telling, no sequeunce, the same old rubbish is repeated, that xyz player says oh its hte big rivalry, but they havnt bother to go in depts of what created this rivalry or the hidden insights.

I think that documentary on Waseem Akrams team in the 90s was a better one compare to this.

A big failure by Netflix here, like instead of creating something good and insightful, they used a bunch of cliches and cretead a series out of it.

For reference, watch Gretskys documentary, or the Last Dance and compare taht to this crap
 
oh and Shaoib Akhtar claims that he was a cripple till the age of 9 and than suddenly started running. What rubbish is this.
 
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Major said:
Sorry, but this is just a rubbish documentary. 3 episodes and i just finished hte first episdoe of 30 mins.

There is no proper story telling, no sequeunce, the same old rubbish is repeated, that xyz player says oh its hte big rivalry, but they havnt bother to go in depts of what created this rivalry or the hidden insights.

I think that documentary on Waseem Akrams team in the 90s was a better one compare to this.

A big failure by Netflix here, like instead of creating something good and insightful, they used a bunch of cliches and cretead a series out of it.

For reference, watch Gretskys documentary, or the Last Dance and compare taht to this crap
Click to expand...

To be fair, cricket is a minor sport outside of the subcontinent, Netflix would have no idea about any depth or insight. You have to question the Indians or Pakistanis involved as they would have been commissioned to provide the story behind such a series.

I've watched a few cricket documentaries done by English producers for Sky and they tend to be similar low level player worship to be honest. I think this is just because cricket isn't done seriously by big production teams.
 
Cpt. Rishwat said:
To be fair, cricket is a minor sport outside of the subcontinent, Netflix would have no idea about any depth or insight. You have to question the Indians or Pakistanis involved as they would have been commissioned to provide the story behind such a series.

I've watched a few cricket documentaries done by English producers for Sky and they tend to be similar low level player worship to be honest. I think this is just because cricket isn't done seriously by big production teams.
Click to expand...
Still man, im soo pissed off at this crap documentary they showed.

The whole focus was on Shoaib Akhtar and Sehwag and just one or two tours.

Like what about AH Kardar , Fazal Mehmood. The history of the series from 47 till 2000.

1.5 hrs of cliches thats about it.
 
Just started watching but what immediately stands out is what a remarkable storyteller Shoaib Akhtar is. He is so entertaining to listen to. He's just a natural showman.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
Just started watching but what immediately stands out is what a remarkable storyteller Shoaib Akhtar is. He is so entertaining to listen to. He's just a natural showman.
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Bro, he was exaggerating and over acting. Seems like guy had watched a few sports documentaries so was expecting this documentary to be out of the world so was acting out. Wasnt even natural when speaking in English.

Like come on, i was cripple til the age of 9, really?
 
Major said:
Bro, he was exaggerating and over acting. Seems like guy had watched a few sports documentaries so was expecting this documentary to be out of the world so was acting out. Wasnt even natural when speaking in English.

Like come on, i was cripple til the age of 9, really?
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I don't mind a little exaggeration as long as it's entertaining.

Did he say that? I thought he said my mother was crippled when she gave birth to me
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
I don't mind a little exaggeration as long as it's entertaining.

Did he say that? I thought he said my mother was crippled when she gave birth to me
Click to expand...
na he said that about himself, i think he even said that in his autobiography to lol.
 
In the Netflix documentary, The Greatest Rivalry - India vs. Pakistan, Virender Sehwag said that it is a great loss for cricket fans that the two nations are not playing cricket in front of home crowds.

hvsaLLB.jpg
 
What this show lacked was structure and direction. They should have focused on specific eras of this rivalry. Could have dedicated one episode to 70s, 80s, one episode to 90s, one on 2000s and one on modern day. Could have had one episode focus on World Cups too and how Pakistan somehow always loses, and perhaps an intro on how both teams started playing test cricket after partition and those early series from the 50s that were full of draws.

It felt like a lazy attempt to generate some views from Netflix subscribers Pakistan and India, and potentially dupe certain others to buy a subscription.
 
Rivalry is defined as “competition for the same objective or for superiority in the same field”

There is no rivalry when India is considerably better in all formats without any doubt.
 
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BS program.

No 1999 or 2017.

This doc serves no purpose other than to feed the mouths and propaganda of the cultists.

Youtube/FB have better quality docs - some of them homemade too!
 
Lame stuff like this makes me wanna direct a short movie sometimes or even go into video compilation stuff. There are fan made documentaries on YouTube that just be better than this.
 
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Saw some of it, and it was better than I was expecting after reading the reviews here. If anyone has ever watched cricket documentaries of other players or teams, they are pretty much of this sort of standard. If you are expecting high budget stuff like The Last Dance, you are kidding yourself. Only the subcontinent takes cricket seriously, and they don't know how to produce genuine quality documentaries to to that standard.

As it was, there was actually a lot of Indian ex-players commenting on the rivalry which must does validate it exists despite the insistence of many Indian posters here insisting it doesn't.
 
Concerned said:
Rivalry is defined as “competition for the same objective or for superiority in the same field”

There is no rivalry when India is considerably better in all formats without any doubt.
Click to expand...

Rivalry can be based on politics too.

BTW, Pakistan have a superior head-to-head record aganist India. :inti
 
Cpt. Rishwat said:
Saw some of it, and it was better than I was expecting after reading the reviews here. If anyone has ever watched cricket documentaries of other players or teams, they are pretty much of this sort of standard. If you are expecting high budget stuff like The Last Dance, you are kidding yourself. Only the subcontinent takes cricket seriously, and they don't know how to produce genuine quality documentaries to to that standard.

As it was, there was actually a lot of Indian ex-players commenting on the rivalry which must does validate it exists despite the insistence of many Indian posters here insisting it doesn't.
Click to expand...
Bro its the same repeated stuff that we hear all the time.

Only thing is now we have a so called documentary of indian players admiting its a rivalry incase some joshila denies it
 
Concerned said:
Rivalry is defined as “competition for the same objective or for superiority in the same field”

There is no rivalry when India is considerably better in all formats without any doubt.
Click to expand...
But you are quoting this definition within the confines of a sporting rivalry.

It is clear that this particular rivalry transcends sport — the countries have been at war with each other three times in the last eighty odd years, have huge political enmity and have a complex love- hate relationship (sadly, more recently hate-hate).

Think of when Iran played the USA at the football World Cup or GDR vs West Germany.

The non-sporting elements make rivalries more intense, even if they are one-sided.

It’s why this fixture is the revenue generator it is for the ICC (and hence the schedule is fixed so they are always in the same group).
It isn’t because of the true sporting rivalry as India have dominated results in recent times.

With respect, to miss this, is to rather miss the point.
 
Cpt. Rishwat said:
Saw some of it, and it was better than I was expecting after reading the reviews here. If anyone has ever watched cricket documentaries of other players or teams, they are pretty much of this sort of standard. If you are expecting high budget stuff like The Last Dance, you are kidding yourself. Only the subcontinent takes cricket seriously, and they don't know how to produce genuine quality documentaries to to that standard.

As it was, there was actually a lot of Indian ex-players commenting on the rivalry which must does validate it exists despite the insistence of many Indian posters here insisting it doesn't.
Click to expand...
It had high production value and I liked the talking heads...it had some interesting snippets too on certain events like the 1999 and 2004 series. But this series could have been so much better if it had some focus and direction.

Even if they were looking at just 90s and 2000s, they could have put some effort into atleast discussing full tours, rather than just randomly picking one match and talking about that.
 
gibsyhesperis said:
But you are quoting this definition within the confines of a sporting rivalry.

It is clear that this particular rivalry transcends sport — the countries have been at war with each other three times in the last eighty odd years, have huge political enmity and have a complex love- hate relationship (sadly, more recently hate-hate).

Think of when Iran played the USA at the football World Cup or GDR vs West Germany.

The non-sporting elements make rivalries more intense, even if they are one-sided.

It’s why this fixture is the revenue generator it is for the ICC (and hence the schedule is fixed so they are always in the same group).
It isn’t because of the true sporting rivalry as India have dominated results in recent times.

With respect, to miss this, is to rather miss the point.
Click to expand...


Absolutely.

Also teams go through phases of dominance and weakness. That has applied to both Pakistan and India down the years. Nothing is set in stone even when it comes to sporting contest.
 
DeadlyVenom said:
I'm gonna watch soon. Is Javed Miandad featured?
Click to expand...
oh yes. His 6 was discussed and the infamous 2004 tour 1st odi.

Damn, i never knew how big that 2004 tour was. I really regret not watching that series as a child :(

But Inzamam is still same as he was during his captaincy. Dull and justifying his lack of plans during the 2004 series. Akhtar had an indirect go at him that you had me and sami playing, why didnt the board and the captain got bowling pitches made for that tour.
 
I watched the first episode, and I didn't think it was that bad. However, Shoaib Akhtar was very annoying. The whole setup, with him sitting in a chair in the middle of the room, felt extremely cringeworthy.. like he was there to chest thump rather than discuss the rivalry. Sehwag was okay, and Osman Samiudin was good.
 
The only good thing about this series was Nadeem Farooq Paracha and Osman Samiuddin.

As soon as I saw Paracha, the stories told gain some credibility and a political context was provided to some of the stories aswell. Like NFP said that the Mumbai attacks having Pakistan's involvement was not a secret anymore, however he said that it was never state sponsored by rogue operators within a sector of the govt that never wanted India Pakistan friendship that pulled this off.

Watching Samiuddin was nostalgic, because i grew up reading his articles on cricinfo. An Osman Samiuddin article on cricinfo used to be my favourite thing back between 2006-2011. His match previews, his writes up about players, events taking place.
 
Major said:
The only good thing about this series was Nadeem Farooq Paracha and Osman Samiuddin.

As soon as I saw Paracha, the stories told gain some credibility and a political context was provided to some of the stories aswell. Like NFP said that the Mumbai attacks having Pakistan's involvement was not a secret anymore, however he said that it was never state sponsored by rogue operators within a sector of the govt that never wanted India Pakistan friendship that pulled this off.

Watching Samiuddin was nostalgic, because i grew up reading his articles on cricinfo. An Osman Samiuddin article on cricinfo used to be my favourite thing back between 2006-2011. His match previews, his writes up about players, events taking place.
Click to expand...
correction, It was never state sponsored, however there were Rogue operators within a sector of the establishment that pulled this off.
 
Major said:
oh yes. His 6 was discussed and the infamous 2004 tour 1st odi.

Damn, i never knew how big that 2004 tour was. I really regret not watching that series as a child :(

But Inzamam is still same as he was during his captaincy. Dull and justifying his lack of plans during the 2004 series. Akhtar had an indirect go at him that you had me and sami playing, why didnt the board and the captain got bowling pitches made for that tour.
Click to expand...
Read the book Pundits from Pakistan by Rahul Bhattachaya. It's a brilliant read and puts into context what a massive tour that was. Without a doubt one of the best cricket books I've ever read.
 
Major said:
The only good thing about this series was Nadeem Farooq Paracha and Osman Samiuddin.

As soon as I saw Paracha, the stories told gain some credibility and a political context was provided to some of the stories aswell. Like NFP said that the Mumbai attacks having Pakistan's involvement was not a secret anymore, however he said that it was never state sponsored by rogue operators within a sector of the govt that never wanted India Pakistan friendship that pulled this off.

Watching Samiuddin was nostalgic, because i grew up reading his articles on cricinfo. An Osman Samiuddin article on cricinfo used to be my favourite thing back between 2006-2011. His match previews, his writes up about players, events taking place.
Click to expand...
NFP for me became a parody of himself a few years ago. Till the late 2000s his weekly columns used to be really engaging to read. At some point he just started recycling similar ideas again and again. Osman was great. In general, I find him to be the best Pakistani cricket journalist. He wrote a fantastic book on the history of Pakistan cricket.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
Read the book Pundits from Pakistan by Rahul Bhattachaya. It's a brilliant read and puts into context what a massive tour that was. Without a doubt one of the best cricket books I've ever read.
Click to expand...
sure bro, will buy the book. Would love to read books on cricket
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
NFP for me became a parody of himself a few years ago. Till the late 2000s his weekly columns used to be really engaging to read. At some point he just started recycling similar ideas again and again. Osman was great. In general, I find him to be the best Pakistani cricket journalist. He wrote a fantastic book on the history of Pakistan cricket.
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NFP is the only sane person is this country will with anti liberal sentiments. Nowadays anything sinful or wrong is attributed to liberalism and alot of buffoons think that liberalism means a bad thing.

So his voice is the only sane voice nowadays that has creadibility.

I think his articles are now mostly on alcahol and remembering the good old days.

Osman Samiuddin should had been a commentator. Would had love to listen his opinions on our cricketers.
 
Decent but Shoaib will forever sound like he was done by. Everytime he got smacked "Oh but my knee was finished by bowling in the nets "
 
sweep_shot said:
Rivalry can be based on politics too.

BTW, Pakistan have a superior head-to-head record aganist India. :inti
Click to expand...
Pakistan are not rivals, Pakistan is the hand that feeds the BCCI and the Indian team.

This was all proven during the CT negotiations.

BCCI were begging Pakistan for a CT match. Rivals do not beg, only the subservient do.

This doc is just a feel good factor attempt for Indians after the WC23 humiliation. You know the old trick, remind the nation of their past glories during their current failures.
 
Technics 1210 said:
Pakistan are not rivals, Pakistan is the hand that feeds the BCCI and the Indian team.

This was all proven during the CT negotiations.

BCCI were begging Pakistan for a CT match. Rivals do not beg, only the subservient do.

This doc is just a feel good factor attempt for Indians after the WC23 humiliation. You know the old trick, remind the nation of their past glories during their current failures.
Click to expand...
the doc didnt glorify india though. It was balanced. And indian cricketers admitted they had jitters when facing Pakistan.
 
Disappointing.

I was hoping to see rare behind the scenes footage, instead this docu is just a bunch of youtube clips sewn together :facepalm:
 
Major said:
oh yes. His 6 was discussed and the infamous 2004 tour 1st odi.

Damn, i never knew how big that 2004 tour was. I really regret not watching that series as a child :(

But Inzamam is still same as he was during his captaincy. Dull and justifying his lack of plans during the 2004 series. Akhtar had an indirect go at him that you had me and sami playing, why didnt the board and the captain got bowling pitches made for that tour.
Click to expand...

I remember visiting Pakistan during that tour. What a time it was to be there.

That 1st ODI will be one of the best matches I've seen even though Pakistan was on the losing end. It was such an incredible start to the tour and then they put up another brilliant show in the 2nd ODI.

Pakistan-India series are truly something else.
 
Major said:
the doc didnt glorify india though. It was balanced. And indian cricketers admitted they had jitters when facing Pakistan.
Click to expand...
Balanced? Within 15 min Bal Thackery made an appearance (yes I know it's an old video) but listen to his words then tell me if it doesn't pour fuel to what is now.

Subconscious snippets.
 
Major said:
oh yes. His 6 was discussed and the infamous 2004 tour 1st odi.

Damn, i never knew how big that 2004 tour was. I really regret not watching that series as a child :(

But Inzamam is still same as he was during his captaincy. Dull and justifying his lack of plans during the 2004 series. Akhtar had an indirect go at him that you had me and sami playing, why didnt the board and the captain got bowling pitches made for that tour.
Click to expand...
The anticipation for 2004 series was off the scale. We wanted revenge for Centurion and both teams were still fairly evenly matched unlike later years. Samsung were the lead sponsor so you knew it wasn't the usual Bank Alfalah Presents...bilateral when massive multinationals are roped in.

I remember watching an old sports quiz show called A Question of Sport on BBC TV, a few days before the 1st ODI, and afterwards they advertised their upcoming radio coverage. Unlike now, British TV didn't pander to Asian cricket fanbase - promoting a neutral series was unheard of.

All five ODIs were bangers with the first still the best bilateral ODI I've watched. I've never, ever heard a cricket atmosphere like that. People talk about Ashes atmosphere but that's different. This was a collective hysteria that grew as we got closer and closer to the target. And I felt that watching the TV so you can imagine the experience at the ground !

Unfortunately the Tests were an anti-climax and a reminder of the ingrained conservatism in our cricket. The two times we beat India at home in 2004 and 2006 were on grassy pitches. When we prepared roads either we'd get beat or draw.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
What this show lacked was structure and direction. They should have focused on specific eras of this rivalry. Could have dedicated one episode to 70s, 80s, one episode to 90s, one on 2000s and one on modern day. Could have had one episode focus on World Cups too and how Pakistan somehow always loses, and perhaps an intro on how both teams started playing test cricket after partition and those early series from the 50s that were full of draws.

It felt like a lazy attempt to generate some views from Netflix subscribers Pakistan and India, and potentially dupe certain others to buy a subscription.
Click to expand...
You could tell an incredible story from the pre-Partition tournaments and how Fazal Mahmood was saved from a mob by C.K. Nayudu in 47. Okay the 50s series look horrifically dull, but there's the jousts between Imran Khan and Javed Miandad vs Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev in the 80s all before you get to the Sharjah Era of the 90s.

However these series are usually designed to be a cheap cashgrab appeal to the lowest common denominator than a proper retelling a history.
 
Have to say though, they covered the 2004 tour really well. Instead of doing this blatant false-advertising with the show title, they should have just called it India v Pakistan: 2004 Friendship Tour
 
It was mainly about 2004 tour, but brilliantly well done. Should make more of these.
 
Netflix's 'biased' Pakistan-India cricket docuseries faces backlash

Netflix's much-anticipated documentary, The Greatest Rivalry: India vs Pakistan, promised to capture the magnitude of cricket's fiercest contest. However, following its release, fans from both sides of the border expressed their scepticism.

Many accused it of being one-sided and lacking balance. While some were excited about reliving the iconic moments of the rivalry, others questioned whether the documentary truly offered a neutral perspective.

One of the earliest concerns raised was about potential bias, with a fan sarcastically commenting, "It's going to be super biased, might even call Pakistani cricketers janab."

Another user pointed out the selective coverage of matches, noting that "Seems like they aren't gonna talk about the 2012 series and Champions Trophy 2017 (Pakistan won)." This led to further speculation that the documentary might focus more on India's triumphs rather than presenting a fair historical account.

In addition, some viewers felt the focus was shifting from the broader rivalry to individual personalities. One commenter said, "It looks like a Shoaib Akhtar vs. Virender Sehwag rivalry."

Beyond the content itself, some fans criticised the fundamental nature of the rivalry, arguing that it lacks balance as the two teams are not playing bilateral series anymore. A user expressed this by saying, "India vs Pakistan would be an even bigger rivalry if India would deign to play their neighbours."

Previously, even the trailer failed to impress many, as some complained about missing key players. "The trailer didn't have Sachin, Virat, Rohit, Akram, Gambhir. Needed a much more explosive trailer," one fan pointed out. Another bluntly called it "The worst trailer. Let sports be sports… why bring visuals of the army?"

Some critics dismissed the documentary's premise altogether, calling it a "Greatest One-Sided Rivalry", while others doubted its neutrality, stating, "I doubt this will be an unbiased documentary with a perspective from both sides."

As the debate rages on, some viewers are already calling it a missed opportunity. One unimpressed fan summed it up: "Most boring series to watch… could have been made much better, honestly."

Whether the documentary lives up to expectations or remains a subject of controversy, one thing is clear: the India-Pakistan cricket rivalry continues to ignite passionate debates far beyond the pitch.

The documentary focuses on the historic 2004 series when India played Pakistan after years of political tensions. This tour was more than just cricket—it was a moment when sports brought two rival nations together. Players share their experiences, discussing the pressure, excitement, and friendships built during these matches, giving fans a closer look at what it's like to play in one of the biggest rivalries in cricket.

SOURCE: https://thecurrent.pk/netflixs-biased-pakistan-india-cricket-docuseries-faces-backlash
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Virender Sehwag about the 2004 tour of Pakistan &quot;I have a memory that I will never forget. When I went shopping for my wedding, I bought shoes and 25-30 suits for my sister and mother, I was shocked that when I went to pay, they wouldn&#39;t take the money. They said you are our…</p>&mdash; Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) <a href="
https://twitter.com/x/status/1890687529860436461
">February 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sourav Ganguly about the 2004 tour of Pakistan &quot;I have not seen a better tour. It was like one and a half months of Diwali. The food was amazing, we were young, we ate everything, chicken, mutton, biryani, roti, kebab. It was a fantastic tour&quot; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PakvInd?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc^tfw">#PakvInd</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc^tfw">#Cricket</a></p>&mdash; Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) <a href="
https://twitter.com/x/status/1890686115268506003
">February 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Records shattered

India-Pakistan CT clash breaks viewership record at 602 million on JioHotstar.
 
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BouncerGuy said:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Virender Sehwag about the 2004 tour of Pakistan &quot;I have a memory that I will never forget. When I went shopping for my wedding, I bought shoes and 25-30 suits for my sister and mother, I was shocked that when I went to pay, they wouldn&#39;t take the money. They said you are our…</p>&mdash; Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) <a href="
https://twitter.com/x/status/1890687529860436461
">February 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sourav Ganguly about the 2004 tour of Pakistan &quot;I have not seen a better tour. It was like one and a half months of Diwali. The food was amazing, we were young, we ate everything, chicken, mutton, biryani, roti, kebab. It was a fantastic tour&quot; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PakvInd?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc^tfw">#PakvInd</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc^tfw">#Cricket</a></p>&mdash; Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) <a href="
https://twitter.com/x/status/1890686115268506003
">February 15, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Click to expand...
Sehwag's father advised him not to tour Pakistan as he was engaged at that time and was to get married a month later. He wasn't sure whether his son will come back home from a tour of Pakistan.

Such were the misnomers about touring Pakistan.
 
Bhaijaan said:
Records shattered

India-Pakistan CT clash breaks viewership record at 602 million on JioHotstar.
Click to expand...
Do not trust anything that comes out of Mukesh Ambani's Jio.
 
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