Selection Day Review

Selection Day is the story of two teen brothers trapped in the mad obsession of their compulsive father.In tracing Radha and Manju’s journey from their village in Madhya Pradesh to becoming star cricketers of a Mumbai school, the first season of Selection Day touches upon several pressing issues—parental pressure, domestic violence, India’s cricket craze, the urban-rural divide, unashamed commercialisation of education, teen angst and homosexuality. But in trying to show it all, it spreads itself too thin, thus failing to create any real impact.

one of the best things about the show is its casting. There is Ratna Pathak Shah as Mrs. Weinberg, a feisty principal fighting a lost battle to save her school—the last living memory of her dead husband—from corporatisation. There is also Mahesh Manjrekar, who plays Tommy Sir, a closeted cricket coach with a murky past and an unrealised dream to train a legend. And finally, there is Rajesh Tailang as the boys’ eccentric father who will stop at nothing to make them what he wants them to be.Though the narrative’s pace is slow, the scenes jump context.Selection Day is a story of cricket and male ambition, and hence has no female characters of any real importance (not in the first season at least) other than Shah’s Mrs Weinberg.

With six episodes of 20 minutes each, the first season essentially lays out the premise and introduces the characters. The field is set, the audience waiting, the players ready. Now all they have to do is deliver. ​