Mushfiq’s ‘nagin dance’ may be commercialised

The snake or nagin dance, danced by Bangladeshi cricketer Mushfiqur Rahim to celebrate his brilliant batting innings in the last week in Sri Lanka, may be commercialised by any corporate entity in near future.

Sundeep Khanna, a consulting editor at the Indian leading business daily Mint, made the observation in his column titled ‘Mushfiqur Rahim’s nagin dance is replete with commercial possibilities.’

Appeared in Live Mint, the online version of the newspaper, the column said: “It was the kolàveri moment for cricket, high viral load with a strong FOMO moment even if the aesthetic on display wasn’t quite as pleasing.”

“Don’t be surprised if the next time you are watching a cricket match on TV, at the fall of a wicket, an ad pops up from a milk food company: ‘This Nagin dance is brought to you by Milkina’,” write Khnna.

“A much parodied Bollywood trope has suddenly got a zing of its own, so we might see a whole new set of merchandise with snake dance as the theme, emerging from the woodwork,” he added.

“If that happens, send out a silent prayer of thanks to Bangladesh batsman Mushfiqur Rahim,” he continued.

According to Khanna, former Bangladeshi skipper Mushfiq, now the country’s wicket keeper, followed up his blistering knock of 72 in 35 balls comprising four sixes and five fours to win a key game against hosts Sri Lanka in the recent Nidahas T20 tri-series with a ‘snake dance’, or what has since been christened the Nagin dance celebration.

“As the diminutive batsman did a rather strange impersonation of a snake in thrall, he added his bit to the sporting hall of fame for celebrations,” he observed.

The senior journalist also appreciated Mushfiq’s dance as an unexpected SAARC bridge for the time being.

“Over the next few days, as the Bangladesh team and then fans in the stadium picked up the cue, an unexpected South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) bridge was being built on the steps of the Nagin dance, enshrining India’s big brother status in purely reptilian scale,” he wrote. “It was India after all that went on to win the tournament with its B team trumping the Bangla tigers in a last ball thriller.”

“Mushfiqur’s gyrations, which instantly went viral on social media and were richly displayed in the stands in the next game against India which Bangladesh conspired to lose, now belong with the famous Mexican wave; Bebeto’s ‘rock the baby’ show in the 1994 World Cup to celebrate the birth of his son; Saurav Ganguly’s off-with-the-top show at Lords, and similar such exaggerated exultations in sports,” he added.

Khann was of the view that Mushfiq’s terpsichorean ecstasy was the new normal in celebratory expressions in the sports arena.