A pandemic year meant a lot of sporting action was stopped for a brief period in 2020. The close substitute for lack of real-time sports during the lockdown were sports-related

documentaries. Streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video did their bit when it came to satiating sports fans with their offerings of docu-series. Here, we list some of the good

and not-so-good sports documentaries released this year. Advertisement THE TEST: A NEW ERA FOR AUSTRALIA’S TEAM (ON AMAZON PRIME VIDEO) The idea of an eight-episode documentary series on

Australia men’s cricket team sounds fascinating. The end product was a bit underwhelming but still, it was an entertaining watch thanks to the access given to the cameras. The series starts

ruthless competitive nature. The best bits are not ‘on the field’ stuff, although there’s plenty of it, but when cricketers make their debuts, talk about missing their family, and experience

close defeats. This is where ‘The Test’s’ emotional quotient comes from and makes it worth the time. Having said that, this documentary could have been much more. Advertisement _THE LAST

DANCE (ON NETFLIX)_ _ESPN_ and Netflix’s _The Last Dance_ provided fans of basketball with a real deep-dive into what is probably the most famous era of the sports history – the age of

Michael Jordan. The documentary covers Jordan’s years of success with the Chicago Bulls, with a particular emphasis on the sixth and final championship that Jordan would win during his

tenure at the franchise. Advertisement With some really interesting never-before-seen footage, several hours’ worth of interviews with too many people to keep a track off and really

compelling story-telling, _The Last Dance_ makes for a truly engaging watch that’ll have you walk away with a newfound admiration for the sporting icon that is Michael Jordan. _RISING

PHOENIX (ON NETFLIX)_ Advertisement “The Olympics is where the heroes are created. The Paralympics are where the heroes come,” says Xavi Gonzalez, CEO of International Paralympic Committee

from 2004 to 2019 at the start of _Rising Phoenix_. This riveting documentary is an attempt to showcase the Paralympic movement by putting the spotlight on a few handpicked athletes. _Rising

Phoenix_ traces the evolution of the Paralympic Games as something that emerged in the wake of World War II, but still remains in the shadow of the Olympics. But through the documentary, it

seeks to distinguish itself from the Olympics. Advertisement For one, it attempts to show the softer side of sporting rivalry. There is a scene involving Italian fencing champion Bebe Vio

which illustrates this. Right after Vio beats her Chinese opponent to seal gold at the Rio Paralympics, the two fencers are seen embracing and sobbing on each other’s shoulders. In another

instance, Great Britain’s Jonnie Peacock recounts a tale where South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius, the biggest name in the Paralympics, walked up to him before their showdown at the London

Paralympics, held his hand and said a prayer for him. Peacock, at the time, by courtesy of being the world record holder, was his biggest competition. Peacock won the race in front of 80,000

people. Advertisement At the start o the documentary, American archer Matt Stutzman recounts how the Iraqi contingent was just a few feet away from the American contingent which has

athletes who had been injured in Iraq. “The world needs to see more of that,” he says. The documentary makes an attempt to get audiences to move past feeling sorry for Paralympians and get

inspired by them. It shows how the narratives around the Paralympics are slowly becoming more about the sporting action rather than just the tragic backstories. Advertisement The documentary

was supposed to coincide with the Tokyo Paralympics. But the coronavirus pandemic postponed the Olympics and the Paralympics by a year. This documentary though is a must watch. BEYOND THE

BOUNDARY _(ON NETFLIX)_ Beyond the Boundary, directed by Anna Stone, begins with a montage and continues to be a montage for the whole duration. The director handpicks the marquee games,

most of them involving India, Australia and England, and weaves a highlight package. What you see is match after match, players entering the field, playing the game, with the editor choosing

to _slo mo_ the action during key moments of the game. This happens game after game until the final. Advertisement There is no attempt in the documentary to go beyond the tournament and

look at the history of women’s cricket. The irony is so very much visible, for this documentary is called Beyond the Boundary. _ALL OR NOTHING: TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (ON AMAZON PRIME VIDEO)_ In

one of the newer additions to Amazon Prime Video’s _All or Nothing_ series, a film crew was assigned to the stadium and training grounds of Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur in a bid

to capture some behind-the-scenes drama and tension that goes along with the pressures of competing at the highest levels of sport. Advertisement Unfortunately for the makers of the

documentary series, the final product turned out to be a lot less interesting than they would have hoped. The show more or less followed the same, exact path as the previous edition of _All

or Nothing,_ which covered Manchester City’s 2017-18 season, but with one key difference. The stakes were a lot lower. Not only did Tottenham not seriously challenge for a trophy, they

didn’t even do so badly as to merit any interest in the content. Advertisement The documentary did have a slice of good luck though, as long-time manager Mauricio Pochettino was fired and

replaced with the acerbic Jose Mourinho. Mourinho’s introduction was a welcome one, as he added some of his Portuguese charm to the series, but overall, there was nothing much of note. THE

TEST: A NEW ERA FOR AUSTRALIA’S TEAM (_ON AMAZON PRIME VIDEO)_ Advertisement The idea of a eight-episode documentary series on Australia men’s cricket team sounds fascinating. The end

product was bit underwhelming but still it was an entertaining watch thanks to the access given to the cameras. The series starts off with Justin Langer getting appointed as the new head

coach after a damaging ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town, which led to suspension of Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft and ends with the conclusion of the Ashes. The narrative

is focused on the new coach as he tries to find a new identity for the team and at the same time not compromising on their ruthless competitive nature. The best bits are not ‘on the field’

stuff, although there’s plenty of it, but when cricketers make their debuts, talk about missing their family, and experience close defeats. This is where ‘The Test’s’ emotional quotient

comes from and makes it worth the time. Having said that, this documentary could have been much more. INSIDE STORY: A SEASON WITH RAJASTHAN ROYALS _(ON RED BULL TV)_ In this three-episode

documentary, there is nothing much to take from. The players talk about preparing well, coaches stress on the need to practice well and importance of coaching while the management speaks

about how they built a team at the auction table. These are all mundane things and sports is much more than that. But one has to realise that this boring narrative is due to one basic

problem – all this happens throughout the documentary because there is nothing much to tell. There is nothing to look for in this documentary . When the makers do not even think of using the

match footage and opt to make shabby animations to show the on-field action and results, you know this documentary is more of a show reel to pitch to investors. This is not meant for the

audience.