Selection Day

The plot revolves around two brothers and their father's passion towards making them the next superstar of Cricket. The father's obsession borders to mania and gives the vibes that he may do anything to achieve his dreams. To fulfill their ambition they move to Mumbai and covet for a position in the Mumbai under 19 Team. To add spice to the mix, the god gets involved, they meet a rival with some disturbing emotions and one of the brothers does not even want to be a cricketer.

I thought I have figured out the plot but I was way wrong, the ending surprised me in multiple levels. The series got superb casting and performances by both the young and old actors. It is another gem of a Netflix Original.

Selection day tells the the story of a an aggressive father who brings his two naturally gifted sons to Mumbai for making it big in both cricket & life. The journey undertaken by by these three from a distant small town and how they cope up to the rigours of life in Mumbai forms the core of 12 episodes. The show sways between interesting, good, decent, dull and plain boring moments, back and forth. Teen life, aspirations, desires, income divide, school politics, hate, friendship and cricket selection politics are well highlighted but it is left to the viewers to decide whether all these this are interesting or not. Rajesh Tailing portraying the unrealistic father has done a wonderful job, so does Rathna Pathak shah as the school principal. Cricket scenes were not bad considering how they are usually shot in mainstream cinema. But a lot of moments are a bit exaggerated and predictable. Teenagers would find the series exiting as it relates to their everyday life. The show is must watch for parents on how not to handle grown up kids. If one swaps cricket with academics, 90% of Indian teenagers face the same situation as the two confused kids.

This was meant to be a single season mini-series- what intrigues is why only 6 episodes. At times it seems a bit draggy. Acting was good and with the star caste, it looks like Netflix and Prime bring a chance for the theatre artists.

I ended up watching this series as soon as it was out. For someone like me who haven't read the novel, the series episodes were the only thing to judge.

This is a new experiment. Though cricket is popular in India, yet there is not much quality web series. The premise is very obvious where two small town kids enter Mumbai to make their name in Cricket. Given the fact, with IPL success, we have seen many small town boys success stories, so it didn't seem something new. So, the pace and emotions was required to weave the story around these.

However, episode by episode, the director / writer kept on building the characters which were difficult to emotionally connect with. The depth and pace required was completely missing. The worst part, the season 1 ends abruptly. Not sure, what are they trying to achieve. I think, they haven't been able to think in terms of seasons... where you complete a story and then build the next on top of that .. in the next season.

Watch it with hope that season 2 will be released soon and that will conclude the story.

Easy breezy binge watch. Great production values. Wish there were more episodes. Leaves you wanting more. A Great simple binge watch .