Doing commentary for long periods in a Test match can get boring sometimes. Especially when the game is being played on a dead pitch as in Rajkot, where the batsmen are having a gala time scoring truckloads of runs.
Batting first, England piled on 537 with three of their batsmen getting to the triple figure mark. In response, the Indians were not too far behind with Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay scoring hundreds too.
But what do commentators do when they get bored? They try the ‘Mannequin Challenge’!
What is the Mannequin Challenge?
Now, what is the challenge all about? Well, it is the latest sensation that has taken the internet by storm. The Challenge is a short video which shows people standing completely still for about a minute or so. A person films the whole thing with a camera moving around the area and sometimes getting close up shots of the mannequin-like people.
The commentators for the series including the likes of Ravi Shastri, Kapil Dev, Ian Botham, Sanjay Manjreker, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan all took the challenge on the 3rd afternoon of the Test match.
The video which is now going viral on the social networking sites runs for about a minute and 11 seconds.
It starts off with everyone, motionless. Former India Team Director Ravi Shastri is seen holding the microphone on his left hand while his right arm is also raised with his index finger pointing upwards.
Aakash Chopra is seen looking into his I-Pad with his spectacles in hand, while Sivaramakrishnan is frozen combing his hair.
Meanwhile, Sanjay Manjreker looks like he is counting the number of fielders in the match which is in progress in front of him. Former England captain Michael Atherton too is looking into his phone whereas his countryman Ian Botham lies motionless trying to pour coffee into his cup.
The last notable name in the video is of India’s first World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev who looks hilarious while standing frozen waiting to chew on a biscuit on his hand.
Finally, it’s LS who breaks the silence and then everyone starts moving again. Manjreker and a few others also manage a laugh. Though it is meant to be a video which is spontaneous the postures were perhaps pre-decided.
Where did it originate?
So where did this challenge originate from? According to reports it all started with a bunch of school kids.The video shows a few high school friends from Edward H. White High School in Jacksonville, Florida being motionless for about 45 seconds and from there on it went viral.
However, it is not a challenge for a noble cause and there are no winners or losers. Why this is happening is also pretty much unclear.
There are no rules to the challenge, except the fact that everyone in the video should be very still. Presumably, every video should be a unique one and one can use background music to add flavour. It can also be a silent one.
One can film it anywhere he likes--in the open, or somewhere inside. The video might have just one person or a group of people.In a video posted by American hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd, it shows many concert goers standing motionless as the song "Black Beatles" plays in the background.
A challenge taker may challenge another person to shoot a video but that is not mandatory. Once one is done with filming they can post it anywhere like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
Celebrities, Politicians, Sporting personalities are having a gala time posting such videos
Celebrities, Politicians, Sportsmen have also had their share of the craze and like the ‘Ice Bucket Challenge,’ it is spreading by the minute.
On November 8, this year United States of America’s presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had tweeted a video which shows her inside an aircraft.The message on the video said ‘Don't stand still. Vote today’ and started off with everybody in the plane standing or sitting motionless.
Ex-president Bill Clinton too was in the video and it finishes with a close up of Hillary smiling in front of rock legend Jon Bon Jovi who is holding a guitar. The videographer shouts out after a minute or so and everyone starts laughing and clapping.
US basketball team Cleveland Cavaliers recently made good use of their trip to ‘White House’ by shooting a challenge video with Michelle Obama. The video shows the players standing motionless while at the party with Michelle hosting them.
Beatles legend Paul McCartney and Adele, known for hits like ‘Hello’ and ‘Someone like you’ have also accepted the challenge. Recently the twerking challenge and the ice bucket one were popular on social media.
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