Mannequin Challenge: From Jamie Vardy to Kapil Dev, everyone's joining the viral sensation

After the Ice Bucket Challenge and Harlem Shake , there is a new internet sensation taking social media by storm — the Mannequin Challenge. In this latest viral video meme, people in groups are freezing themselves for a minute or more, often in elaborate poses and scenarios. One person walks through the area, filming the whole scene and sometimes showing up-close shots of the “mannequins”. Most of the videos are set to the song Black Beatles by Rae Sremmurd, making it the unofficial anthem of the meme. The rap duo recorded their own version of the challenge at a concert in Denver. According to Twitter lore, a user named @pvrity___ started the challenge with a group of high school friends from Edward H White High School in Jacksonville, Florida. And as expected, the internet soon followed. Within a week, everyone from teenagers to celebrities were joining in the fun, freezing themselves in social media’s fleeting history. Hillary Clinton, Destiny’s Child, Paul McCartney are just some of the celebs who have posted their videos. The craze has hit the sporting world as well, with teams choreographing intricate videos in their locker rooms. Take a look at the some of the best Mannequin Challenges executed by sports stars. Portugal football team Portugal took on the Mannequin Challenge ahead of Sunday’s World Cup qualifier against Latvia, and Cristiano Ronaldo hogged the limelight. He posed shirtless in the middle of their dressing room, flaunting his physique and perfect abs. Other Portuguese players — Renato Sanches, Andre Gomes and William Carvalho — were pretending to warm up for a game in the video.

Portugal’s mannequin challenge is absolute QUALITY.. pic.twitter.com/uM62UzpDMr

— BenchWarmers (@BeWarmers) November 12, 2016

  Mexico football team Mexico defeated USA 2-1 in the World Cup qualifiers in Ohio, just days after Donald Trump was elected as the next American President. In celebration, the Mexican team took on the Mannequin Challenge in their dressing room. Javier Hernandez posted the video on his Instagram account, with this cheeky caption, “Thanks for all the support! Very good effort and result of the whole team! Next party in Alaska to get colder! Hahaha.”

  Germany football team Germany’s Mannequin Challenge is quite creative, and features their squad having dinner in Rome ahead of their friendly against Italy on Tuesday. In the video, in one hilarious moment, Arsenal defender Shkodran Mustafi is caught mid-argument with Mats Hummels.

  England vs Spain Jamie Vardy put England 2-0 ahead in their friendly against Spain at Wembley, and celebrated his goal with the Mannequin Challenge. He struck a static pose after burying a header past Pepe Reina and teammates Raheem Sterling and Theo Walcott joined in.

England's #mannequinchallange pic.twitter.com/5KgaDtzyYe

— ITV Football (@itvfootball) November 15, 2016

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But Vardy’s celebration turned out to be a little premature, however, as Spanish debutant Iago Aspas and Isco salvaged a draw for the visitors, scoring two late goals. And then, they had the perfect response to Vardy’s Mannequin Challenge. They came up with their own version, in the Wembley dressing room no less. Goalkeeper Reina steals the show by pretending to jump out of the laundry dumpster.

EQUIPAZO!! 🇪🇸 @SeFutbol #manequinchallenge pic.twitter.com/AUSTMpxgwW

— David De Gea (@D_DeGea) November 15, 2016

  Borussia Dortmund Borussia Dortmund stars Andre Schurrle, Marco Reus and Shinji Kagawa are posed like statues, holding weights in the gym, in their version of the challenge. Goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller is caught on the bench press, and it may nave been quite the task being frozen in this position for the length of the video.

  Sunderland: In the Premier League, Sunderland were the first club to get swept away by the Mannequin Challenge. And they had good reason to do so. The David Moyes side recorded their first win of the season, beating Bournmouth 2-1. Though we are not quite sure that Steven Pienaar understood the memo completely.

#SAFC + @adidasUK challenge you to the #SAFCMannequinChallenge for the chance to win big

➡ https://t.co/tSAKSkZQgL pic.twitter.com/jMWdTzbWlU — Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) November 8, 2016

  Kerala Blasters FC  The Sachin Tendulkar owned club proved that football clubs in the Indian Super League (ISL) can also join in this viral internet movement too.  

  Cricket commentators With the football world going crazy over the Mannequin Challenge, how can cricket stay far behind? The bug has bitten Indians too and during the first India-England Test match at Rajkot, the commentary team decided to take on the challenge. The video features Sanjay Manjrekar, Aakash Chopra, Kapil Dev, Mike Atherton, Ian Botham and others in the commentary box.

  ATP stars The top eight men’s players are in London this week for the tour-ending ATP Finals. On the day of the launch of the tournament, the players lined up in front of their locker rooms, all suited up. World No 1 Andy Murray probably had the toughest task in the challenge — holding up a selfie stick in one position, long enough for the video to be shot. The video ends with the players clicking their annual iconic Top 8 selfie.

     BYU women’s gymnastics team American Brigham Young University’s gymnastics team posted one of the most impressive versions of the challenge. The gymnasts “froze” mid-moves on the balance beam and bars, showing great poise and control. It would have been almost impossible to top this video, but one team managed it.

      Cleveland Cavaliers Which brings us to the last video in this compilation. Lebron James. Cleveland Cavaliers. White House. FLOTUS. Need we say more? This one wins hands down.

Freezing our @WhiteHouse visit in time forever with @FLOTUS! #MannequinChallenge 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/iX1qaJ8qQQ — Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) November 11, 2016