A still from the sand animated video of the Indian cricket team, dressed like Roman warriors, created by sand artist Manas Sahoo of Puri. Picture by Sarat Patra

Bhubaneswar, March 29: Silhouettes swirling around what looks like a cricket ball. As you watch mesmerized, a hand shoots up from the base of the screen and grabs the ball. And before you can bat an eyelid, the hand transforms into the figure of a full-grown man swinging the ball onto the screen.

Surreal? Yes. But only Manas Kumar Sahoo, the sand animation wizard from Puri could have conjured up such images which is drawing millions of people to YouTube and Facebook every day.

With his nimble fingers, Sahoo, who made it to the finals of the television show, India’s Got Talent – Khoj II, last year, has composed a story on sand about the ongoing cricket World Cup 2011.

Dressed as gladiators with bat-shaped swords in hand, the figures battle it out on the “sand” pitch with the screen switching from batsmen playing blitzkrieg shots to bowlers hurling the ball aggressively at them.

In the end, a figure, resembling Indian cricket skipper, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, emerges from the dust to lift the coveted trophy. The breathtaking five-minute video ends with a message that reads, “Good luck to the Indian cricket team”.

“With cricket fever gripping everyone, I decided to wish the team in a different way. Besides, this is the first-ever sand animation on cricket. Since cricket is not just a game but a war between countries, the cricketers are shown as Roman soldiers in the video,” said Sahoo.

For this animation, he has used about four kilograms of sand. “It took me 10 days to compose the concept and music. Ultimately, I decided to start with the image of the World Cup logo and end it with Dhoni lifting the trophy,” he said.

Sahoo is hopeful that the team will beat Pakistan in the semis tomorrow and go on to recreate the 1983 success. “I hope my art work will help boost the morale of our team. I am sure the men in blue will make us proud,” he said.