The song is used in the first episode of The Mighty Boosh, "Killeroo". It is danced to by Rich Fulcher's character, Bob Fossil. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. p.307. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. Sport and music don’t always mix. Sure, everyone loves an ’80s training montage or a stirring rendition of the Champions League theme, but songs that are actually about sport aren’t particularly common. Maybe it’s because most musicians spent their formative years trying to learn the solo to Enter Sandman rather than engaging in outdoor activities. There are exceptions though, and some damn fine ones at that. Here are a few of our favourites. Del Amitri – Don’t Come Home Too Soon

IndiaGLITZ reviewed the music of Iqbal and when talking about ‘Aashayein,’ they said that it conveys “a lot of energy.” The song follows the iconography of the team training hard under Kabir’s leadership. It showcases them running, playing and working out. In 2002, Satyajit Bhatkal wrote The Spirit of Lagaan that detailed the making of the film. In the seventh chapter, he cites the song before detailing the music arrangement. In 2002, AR Rahman unsurprisingly won the ‘Best Music Director’ Filmfare Award for his work in Lagaan.

Milkha steals to survive in refugee camps. He is left heartbroken when Biro (Sonam K. Ahuja), the girl he loves, marries someone else. It goes without saying that songs decorate Indian films but within sports movies, whether fictional or biographical, they are all the more important. And so the buses ran on time, the garbage disappeared and many had died in the air, on seas and land, In the climax, a hallucination sequence involving the family of Mary allows her to win the championship. Thereafter, she is named ‘Magnificent Mary.’ There’ll be one mad dog and his master/ Pushing for four with the spin/ On a dusty pitch/ With two pounds six of willow wood/ In the sun

Album art above comes from the "great lost Who album": Who's For Tennis, reconstructed courtesy of the excellent Albums That Never Were blog.) Zinda‘ from Bhaag Milkha Bhaag features Subedaar Milkha Singh (Farhan Akhtar) growing up and running atop a train. Halla Bol‘ from Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal is sung by Daler Mehndi. It presents Sunny Bhasin (John Abraham) getting ready for a game and joining his team. Ziddi’ means ‘stubborn’ in Hindi and Urdu. However, ‘ Ziddi Dil‘ from Mary Kom shows the difference between being stubborn and determined.

Ziddi Dil – Mary Kom (2014)

It would be a bit amiss to not have at least one song from the sub-continent in this list. So here it is. I’ve got no idea who this Wilbur is, but good on him for making an effort. He clearly loves the game, so he seems like a good bloke. This could be a loose club number if it had more snare claps and bass thumps. RM Vijayakar from IndiaWest was specifically talking about ‘Re Sultan’ when reviewing Sultan in 2016″

The song keeps its Indian feel intact. Aided by an elaborate orchestra, it blazes on and promises to keep the flag flying high.” Before Darryl Braithwaite went solo and released the song that defined a generation – Horses – there was his band Sherbet and one of their many hits “Howzat”. Musician Pritam did wonders with this song, especially the uplifting beat and the thought-provoking lyrics including: Please/ Give me one chance/ I know I’m not an Indi/ I promise I’ll make you laugh/ I’ll even learn some HindiThe West Indies, they had the music. The telecast would start with "Sun is Shining", and the bands in the stands would play all night. Only rarely do I go through a Shivnarine Chanderpaul innings without listening to "Hooper and Chanderpaul". Written by Dave Martins, the song chalks out a winning strategy: