The "Stand By", Actor, Laureate, and Players

Sports is indeed a celebration. The buoyant spirit of festivities is shared with sports and adrenaline rushes a tad more in sports. The ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 is in full fervour now. This year the tournament started with a surprising neighbourhood version of the sport, gully cricket or alley cricket.

Street Cricket Being Played in India

This is the form of cricket that is played in South Asia, where sometimes even main thoroughfares are converted into pitches with three sticks on either side acting as the wickets. Or sometimes, the wicket is just some rocks or bricks stacked up. The ball could be anything from a tennis ball to a bundle of elastic bands or a bundle of rings cut out from tyre tubes. The material could be anything as long as it is made into a sphere that can be thrown with ease, without it coming off.

Anytime is cricket time in South Asia and everyone is a cricketer. This is a symbol of life, a symbol of celebration, a sign that childhood and youth are still there, in society, in you. It is quite apt that ICC decided to have a fun game of gully cricket in the opening ceremony of the Cricket World Cup 2019. And who played? Farhan Akhtar, an Indian Hindi actor; Malaya Yousafzai, a Nobel laureate for Peace; Anil Kumble, former Indian cricketer; and the band Rudimental played along with the budding singer Loryn, the song “Stand By”. The song symbolizes diversity and the crowd, which was highly diverse, caught up to the song.

"Stand By" Official Video

"Stand By" Performed at ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 Opening

Indian Actor Farhan Akhtar

The ICC World Cup 2019 is a great example of celebration in sport, sport being celebration. It marks the coming together of people from across the world to watch sports, be a part of the gala, eat, drink, and just enjoy life. It is also a place of great commerce, a place where identities—social, racial, cultural, and national—are strengthened.

Former Indian Cricketer Anil Kumble

The actor could not score much, neither could the Nobel laureate. But it does not matter; all that matters is that all this and countless others came to celebrate the event that is life.