2 min readUpdated: Feb 13, 2026 11:42 AM IST
As Italian cricket president Simone Gambino shed tears after his team’s 10 wicket win over Nepal, their first ever in a World Cup, he had an old friend for company. It was Indias renowned actor Kabir Bedi, talking to the team in Italian.
Gambino recalled how when he asked around if everyday Italians knew the great ‘Tendu luca’ (Sachin Tendulkar) he was met with a constant response – in Italy they only knew Kabir Bedi.
Bedi had famously starred in an Italian 1976 miniseries called ‘Sandokan’ about a rebelling pirate fighting against British colonialism. Gambino recalled, “In Italy they only know you. The Malaysian Tiger (main character) Kabir Bedi.”
Gambino recalled how 50 years ago, people would laugh at him when they heard he played cricket. “I would’ve never imagined this moment. But now we are going right back to Kolkata to shoot down England. We want to be in semis,” he said in an official video released by the Italian cricket team on Instagram.
The Italian celebration involved singing off their travelling banner while stomping their feet and banging their bats into the Wankhede dressing room floor with a piercing warcry.
La Maglia… azzurra
(The shirt…blue)
Siamo pronti. Alla morte
(We are ready. For death ( to die for the team))
Noi siamo. italia
(We are Italy)
Chi siamo. Italia
(Who are we? Italy)
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Earlier in the leadup to the World Cup Christian ‘Bobo’ Vieri had put out a message telling Italians that cricket was a fine game, recalling an Aus vs West Indies match he saw as a child. “Viv Richards. Joel Garner. Malcolm Marshall. They are fenomena (phenomenons). I know not many Italians know cricket. But I am here and I know things,” he would declare before wishing his team.
