Cricket Field Chronicles

Her Story Her Glory (Review)

Lakshit Singhal — Sun, 05 Jul 2026 06:14:59 GMT

The 2025 ODI World Cup triumph, with Harmanpreet Kaur lifting the golden urn in Mumbai against South Africa, marked a watershed moment for women's cricket in India. It was a dream deferred for nearly a decade since that heartbreaking final loss to England in 2017. Yet the journey to that moment was anything but straightforward, and Her Story, Her Glory does commendable justice to every step of that long, winding road.

Setting the Stage

The book traces women's cricket all the way back to pre-independence India, shining a much-needed light on pioneers who set the ball rolling but have since faded into obscurity. Aloo Bamjee, who established the first women's cricket club Albees in 1969, and MK Sharma, who founded the Women's Cricket Association of India in 1973, receive their rightful acknowledgement here. These are names that deserve to be remembered, and the book ensures they are.

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The Trailblazers

The documentation of Diana Edulji's contributions is among the book's finest passages. One particularly moving anecdote recounts how, during a 1976 Test match between India and West Indies in Delhi, Diana Edulji approached the Rail Minister to secure a railway job for herself, as her father was a railway employee and was on the verge of retirement. The minister obliged and in doing so, unknowingly stitched the railways into the fabric of women's cricket in India for generations to come.

Equally stirring is the account of Edulji leading a protest at a World Cup, with the team refusing to take the field until players' pending dues were cleared. These were not mere gestures; they were acts of courage that defined the culture of resistance within the women's game.

The Struggles Behind the Spotlight

The book does not flinch from documenting the hardships. Players being stopped by security while heading to the 1997 World Cup presentation ceremony - a tournament in which India were semi-finalists - is as absurd as it is heartbreaking.

More remarkable still is the story from 1979, when players had to arrange their own funds for a tour of Europe, the West Indies and the USA. When the WCAI attempted to have the funds deposited with them, the players declined - a quiet act of defiance that led to the tour being classified as unofficial, with the team competing under the name India Women's Club.

These stories are not footnotes; they are the spine of the book.

Milestones Along the Way

The narrative smartly marks the turning points in the journey. The year 2006 emerges as a landmark when India defeated England in Tests for the first time and clinched the Asia Cup, while the BCCI announced cash prizes for players, signalling a slow but meaningful shift in institutional recognition. Fast forward to the present, and the WPL now contributes roughly 3.9% of the BCCI's annual revenue, a figure that speaks volumes about how far the commercial landscape has evolved.

Craft and Authenticity

What makes Her Story, Her Glory an engaging read is its narrative clarity. The writing is straightforward without being simplistic, blending statistics with anecdote in a way that never feels laboured. The inclusion of player interviews adds a layer of authenticity.

Final Word

Her Story, Her Glory earns its place alongside celebrated works on women's cricket in India such as The Fire Burns Blue and Free Hit. It is equal parts tribute and testimony - a reminder that women's cricket is not a recent phenomenon generously gifted by administrators, but a movement built brick by brick by women who played despite the system, not because of it. The glory was always there. It just needed to be found.

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My Rating:

3.5/5

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Indian Summers: Australia versus India by Gideon Haigh (Review)

Lakshit Singhal — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 06:24:49 GMT

A Rivalry Unlike Any Other

Not every great rivalry is born in history books or political chambers. Some grow quietly, match by match, tour by tour, shaped less by geography or empire than by the slow accumulation of contested moments. The cricket rivalry between India and Australia is precisely that: a relationship that has evolved organically, earning its weight through the quality of what has unfolded between the two nations on the field.

From the Gabba to the Eden Gardens, this is a rivalry etched in cricket. And yet, for all the drama it has produced, a comprehensive written account of it had remained conspicuously absent. Indian Summers sets out to fill that gap.

A Collection of Dispatches

This is not a linear narrative - no chapter depends on the one before it, and the reader seeking a neat chronological arc will need to adjust their expectations. What Haigh offers instead is a collection of independent dispatches: finely crafted essays on matches and tours that have defined the India-Australia contest across nearly a century of cricket, from the first tour of 1935 right through to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy of 2025.

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The Prose: Poetry in Whites

If there is one quality that elevates Haigh above other cricket writers, it is his refusal to settle for the merely accurate when the precisely beautiful is within reach. He blends the rhythms of poetry with the rigour of commentary.

Haigh’s descriptions of cricketers are so precisely observed that they linger long after the page is turned. Consider how he captures Virender Sehwag: no batsman, he writes, radiates such an air of relaxation at the crease. In that single clause he says everything - the swagger, the stillness, the absolute absence of doubt. Of Sachin Tendulkar, he writes that the man is a symbol of change but also of continuity - a formulation that rewards reflection, holding within it the whole arc of Indian cricket’s transformation and the one constant at its centre.

This is Haigh’s gift: the ability to compress a career, a personality, or a defining characteristic into a phrase so apt it feels inevitable. He knows when to hype and when to simplify, when to let an occasion breathe and when to press the language until it yields something essential.

The Players: A Gallery of Forgotten Greats

The book’s most moving chapters belong to the cricketers who have faded from popular memory. These are players whose contributions are now buried beneath decades of records and highlights that did not survive the analogue age.

The portraits of Mohinder Amarnath, Gundappa Vishwanath, Chandrashekhar, Bishan Bedi, Dilip Doshi, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Kapil Dev, and Sunil Gavaskar are among the book’s finest passages. These are not statistical summaries but character studies. More so explorations of individuality, temperament, and the kind of cricketing personality that resists reduction to a scoreline.

Reading these chapters, one is struck by a quiet melancholy: a sense that these men represented something in the game that cannot be mass-produced, something formed by adversity and coloured by the particular texture of their times.

What Haigh achieves, at his best, is the feeling of knowing these cricketers - not just their averages or their famous innings, but the manner in which they inhabited the game. That is a rare and generous thing for a writer to offer.

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Cricket as Cultural Commentary

To read this book only as a record of cricket would be to miss half of what it offers. Haigh uses the India-Australia rivalry as a lens to examine everything that has changed and much that has been lost.

His observations on the diminishing idea of a team in an era of excessive scheduling are sharp and unsentimental.

His commentary on the growing influence of broadcasters on cricket decisions, the rise of private leagues, and the erosion of Test match temperament among modern players carries the weight of someone who has watched the game closely enough to know precisely what has been surrendered in the name of commerce.

He writes as a fan who feels the disappointment acutely, and who is bold enough to say so. Readers will not agree with every assertion. Nor are they meant to. But they will find it impossible not to respect the clarity of thinking and the honesty of the concern. There is context to every argument, candour in every critique, and never the sense that Haigh is grandstanding. He is simply telling the truth as he sees it.

A Book That Deserves to Last

Revisiting the tours of yesteryears through Haigh’s essays is nostalgic. The India of the 1970s tours, the Australia of Border and Lillee, the subcontinental conditions that flattened touring sides and the pace attacks that did the same - all of it is reconstructed with the detail of a scholar.

This is not the easiest cricket book to read. But it may well be the most rewarding. In its candour, its poetry, its refusal to flatten the game into results, it stands apart from the crowded shelf of cricket literature. Haigh has given this rivalry the account it deserved. And for that very reason, this book is a worthy read.

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My Rating

3.5/5

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Revolt and Agitate: How India got its first captain

Lakshit Singhal — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 08:15:05 GMT

What if I told you India's first test captain could have been a Maharaja and not a cricketer. A Maharaja who was famously known to have collected more Rolls-Royce than runs. An all-India tour of England was announced in 1932. The team was supposed to play 26 first-class games, which also included an official test match.

Maharajas used to be the patrons of cricket in India at that time. And by virtue of that were guaranteed a spot in the team, sometimes even captaincy. Skill had nothing to do with their selection. Maharaja of Patiala and Vizianagaram were in constant tussle for control. Both wanted to captain India in the historic first Test.

Vizzy succeeded in drafting a star-studded side composed of Herbert Sutcliff and Jack Hobbs for a tour in 1931 - no easy feat by any means. In response, Patiala arranged for the training for England's tour of 1932 at Bardari Palace in Patiala and also offered to sponsor the tour. But when the time came, both withdrew from the tour citing administrative duties and health concerns.

Eventually, Maharaja of Porbandar was appointed as the captain with Maharaja of Limbdi as his deputy. But it soon became apparent that Porbandar had little to contribute on the field. He realised the importance of this historic moment and withdrew his name from the match. C.K. Nayudu was appointed the captain. But there was one final hurdle left.

Some players were not satisfied with Nayudu as the captain. A commoner as the captain was unacceptable to them. They wanted a Maharaja only to lead. With a few hours left before the start of the match, they expressed their displeasure to the Maharaja of Patiala. But even Patiala knew this was no ordinary match. It was history in the making. He instructed that C.K. Nayudu will remain captain.

June 25, 1932. C.K. Nayudu walked out at the Lord's Cricket Ground along with Douglas Jardine as India's first Test captain. As the coin went up in the air, India had become a Test playing nation.

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Episode 1: Stories on Women's Cricket and forgotten legends of Indian cricket

Lakshit Singhal — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 13:00:42 GMT

In my debut conversation, I sit with Aditya Bhushan, author and cricket writer, to delve into the history of women's cricket in India. He shares fascinating stories about the pioneers such as Shubhangi Kulkarni, Aloo Bamjee, Diana Edulji and M.K. Sharma.

We unpack his forthcoming book, Her Story Her Glory: The Making of Women's Cricket in India and explores what it takes researching and writing a book with a historical account.

We reflect on the stories, struggles and triumphs that have shaped women’s cricket and acknowledge the pioneers whose contribution remains largely overlooked.

Furthermore, the conversation goes beyond the book as Aditya shares never heard before stories about Indian cricket legends such as Salim Durani, Anshuman Gaekwad and Col C.K. Nayudu.

As we go down the memory lane, Aditya shares a particularly interesting anecdote from his conversations with the Prince of Indian cricket, Salim Durani.

“When asked who is your favourite cricketer? He thought for a moment. And then just said Salim Durani. Of course I love myself. I used to love my batting, and that was really the essence of the man."

Join us on a deeply enriching conversation.

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The Sardar Of Spin (Review)

Lakshit Singhal — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 04:31:03 GMT

Publisher: Roli Books
Length: 276 Pages
Edited by: Venkat Sundram and Sachin Bajaj

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Bishan Singh Bedi is a dynamic personality. His performances on the field and actions off the field have earned him a distinct identity among his contemporaries. Chronicling him is not an easy task and this what The Sardar of Spin aims to do. It is an eclectic collection of essays by former cricketers, authors, sports writers and journalists that unearth various dimensions of Bedi’s life and give us an insight into the cricketer’s eventful journey.

The book is divided across 34 chapters and holds the distinction of bringing together a diverse and experienced set of writers. From Mike Brearley to Michael Holding, the former cricketers reflect upon their experiences with Bedi. Every chapter is filled with fascinating anecdotes about the man who is a stalwart in his own right. His bowling action, famously regarded as poetry in motion, gets due prominence in not one but many chapters. Reading these will make you appreciate the art of spin bowling even more.

For Bedi, the game came before everything else. He would not sit on the fence and accept anything that would tarnish its image. The heart of Sardar of Spin lies in Bedi’s relationship with cricket. “To Bishan Singh Bedi, cricket was more than a game, it was a way of life, a platform where you let the world know what you stood for”, writes Saad Bin Jung, in one of the chapters. I am not sure if it was a conscious effort on the part of contributing authors. But the unconventionality is the strong point of the book and adds to the reading experience.

Bishan Bedi is an enigma for the current generation. The book offers a peek into the situations Bedi faced and the choices he made in his 13-year-long career. Be it his protest against the West Indies’ tactics of intimidating short-pitched bowling at the body of the Indian batters or the fight against the board for better pay and facilities for the players. He never hesitated in speaking his mind, even if it put him in trouble. “Bishan Paaji empowered us, gave us hope that we could take on the system”, remarks Mohinder Amarnath.

Bishan Paaji, as he was affectionately known, lives and breathes cricket. He would study the batter all-round and make notes of his bowling. He wouldn’t hesitate in appreciating a good shot, even if it came off his own bowling. “For him, art was universal. It was a measure of both his magnanimity and confidence”, says his companion of the famous spin quartet, B.S. Chandrashekhar. His passion for the game is infectious which is reflected beautifully through the book.

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Final Thoughts

Not all essays captivate you equally and sometimes the information gets repetitive. It is difficult for me to pick my favorite essay as every chapter contains some unique anecdotes. But if I have to pick, the essays by Rajdeep Sardesai and Venkat Sundaram stand out for me. These essays reveal many facets of Bedi’s life which come as a revelation. Particularly, his pioneering efforts to uplift the status of Delhi and North Zone cricket merit a read.

To conclude, the book is an insightful read. It gets repetitive at times and lacks coherence and flow which might be distracting for some readers. But it succeeds in its mission of celebrating the life and art of Bishan Bedi.

My Rating

3/5

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When Richard Hadlee lost his bat to Diana Edulji in a wager

Lakshit Singhal — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 11:59:02 GMT

The Indian women’s tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1976 was remarkable for more reasons than one. These were difficult times for the Women’s Cricket Association of India (WCAI), which was severely underfunded and players had to arrange their own resources and facilities just to make the tour possible. The situation was so sire that the WCAI arranged the stay of the players at the home of the locals in New Zealand.

During one of the tour matches, Richard Hadlee had come to the ground to support his wife, Karen. Diana Edulji was not only a fan of his but also an admirer of his famous Crown bat. While the two were in conversation, Hadlee remarked with a laugh:

“You skinny people - how do you expect to hit any boundaries, let alone sixes!”

The comment did not sit well with Diana. She pushed back and asked what she would receive in return if she did manage to hit a six. Hadlee’s reply was simple: “Anything!”

Diana approached her captain, Shantha and requested her to be promoted up the batting order so she could make good on her wager. It did not take her long to clear the fence. Once she had met the challenge, she ran back to Hadlee and told him she had long had her eye on his famous Crown bat - and that would be her prize.

Hadlee, true to his word, happily obliged.

This was the beginning of the times to come, when the Indian women players would not bow down against oppression and insult.

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Australia Rattled: The Extraordinary 9/69 by Jasu Patel

Lakshit Singhal — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 11:36:22 GMT

Why Have You Called Me?

The telegram arrived at a quiet home in Ahmedabad. Jasubhai Motibhai Patel read it, set it down, and frowned. He was 35 years old. His hair carried the first honest streaks of grey. He had played four Test matches for India since 1955, none of them memorable. The selectors had overlooked him so many times he had made peace with it.

He was being asked to travel to Kanpur for the second Test against Australia. He packed his bags reluctantly, unconvinced. The cricket world was equally unconvinced. Journalists questioned the logic. Fellow players whispered. Why Patel, and not the younger, more dynamic AG Kripal Singh?

Only one man was absolutely certain: Lala Amarnath, chairman of selectors. He had watched the Green Park pitch in Kanpur being freshly laid and had noted the rough patches the left-arm seamers would create.

A Nation on Its Knees

To understand what happened at Kanpur, you must first understand how desperate things were.

In their previous 14 Tests, India had lost eleven. Five of those losses came by an innings. Eight were wrapped up with more than a day to spare. Just five days before Kanpur, Australia had crushed India by an innings and 127 runs in Delhi. The touring Australians, under the brilliant captaincy of Richie Benaud, were the finest cricket team in the world - carrying in their ranks Harvey, O’Neill, McDonald, Davidson, and Meckiff.

India had just returned from England having been whitewashed 5-0. The mood in the dressing room was not one of strategy and preparation. It was survival. The question being asked was not “Can India win?” It was “By how much will they lose this time?”

The First Day: As Expected

India batted first. It went as poorly as feared - 152 all out. Davidson, the silky left-arm menace, took five for 31. Benaud chipped in with four for 63. If Australian players celebrated in their hotel that night, who could blame them?

The second morning began in exactly the same vein. Colin McDonald and Neil Harvey batted as though the Kanpur pitch were their personal drawing room. By lunch, Australia were a comfortable 128 for one. Patel had taken the solitary wicket but had looked pedestrian, bowling from the city end, unable to threaten, a passenger in his own match.

The Lunch That Changed Everything

What was said between Lala Amarnath and captain GS Ramchand during those 40 minutes at lunch, we can only imagine. But the message was clear and urgent: You are bowling Patel from the wrong end. Davidson and Meckiff, both left-arm bowlers, had roughed up the surface at the pavilion end. That rough patch was Patel’s hunting ground. Move him there.

Ramchand listened.

Patel marked his run-up from the pavilion end.

His first delivery after lunch kissed the rough, gripped, and slid between McDonald’s bat and pad. The stumps were hit. McDonald, who had looked immovable all morning, walked off for 50, shaking his head. The crowd stirred. Something had changed. The air at Green Park felt different.

The Unraveling

What followed was not merely good bowling. It was something closer to witchcraft.

Neil Harvey reached fifty and looked entirely at ease. Harvey was an experienced Test player with over 6,000 runs to his name. Then Patel tossed one up, pitching it temptingly outside Harvey’s off-stump. Harvey decided to leave it alone. He raised his bat and let the ball go. Except the ball did not go. It cut back sharply, violently, and demolished his stumps. Harvey stood there for a moment, bat still raised, staring at the wreckage.

Bapu Nadkarni dropped a sitter at midwicket off Norman O’Neill, costing Patel what could have been a tenth wicket. O’Neill was eventually dismissed by Chandu Borde. But every other Australian wicket belonged to one man.

By close of play, the scoreboard told an almost surreal story: Australia all out, 219. Last nine wickets: 91 runs. Patel’s figures: 9 for 69.

Sealing the Miracle

India’s second innings was a transformed affair. Nari Contractor’s 74 and Ramnath Kenny’s 51 helped set Australia a target of 225 in 400 minutes. It was a target with teeth.

On the fourth evening, Patel dismissed Gavin Stevens. On the fifth morning, Polly Umrigar reduced Australia to 61 for four. Then Patel arrived again - claiming four more wickets as the Australian innings gasped and collapsed to 105 all out.

India won by 119 runs.

In the press rooms across the country, editors moved the story to the front page. Radio stations broke into regular programming. The phrase being whispered, then spoken, then shouted across India was the same everywhere:

The miracle at Kanpur.

What It Meant

Patel’s match figures of 14 for 124 were the best by any Indian bowler in Test cricket - a record that would stand for nearly three decades. His nine for 69 in the first innings remained the finest single-innings bowling performance by an Indian until Anil Kumble took all ten against Pakistan in 1999.

For his achievement, Patel was awarded the Padma Shri, becoming the first cricketer ever to receive India’s second-highest civilian honor. His face appeared on a postage stamp.

Jasubhai Patel played just 7 Tests for India in which he picked 29 wickets. But ask any Indian cricket fan what defined him, and they will give you three characters and two digits: 9/69.

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Rematch on World Cup Debut - An Infamous Chapter from Srilanka Cricket History

Lakshit Singhal — Sun, 07 Jun 2026 15:17:40 GMT

Before we get to the story, let me offer you a little context. In 1975, Sri Lanka were not yet a Test or ODI-playing nation. When the ICC assembled the eight-team field for the inaugural Men's ODI World Cup, only six Test-playing nations existed, leaving two spots to fill. Sri Lanka and East Africa were handed those invitations. They had shown glimpses of excellence but for Sri Lanka, this was far more than a place in a cricket tournament. It was an entry ticket onto the world stage - the birth of a cricketing nation determined to hold its own among the heavyweights of the game

June 7, 1975 - a date etched into the hearts of Sri Lankan cricket fans for more reasons than one. It marked the Island Nation’s very first steps on the international stage, the culmination of years of patience, perseverance, and dedication. No ordinary debut could have done justice to the journey and fittingly, the stage was the grandest possible: the inaugural Men’s ODI World Cup or the Prudential Cup 1975.

Acknowledging the significance of the opportunity, the Sri Lankan Cricket Board arranged a ten-day pre-tournament training camp in Nuwara Eliya, a quaint little hilly town in Srilanka famous for its cool weather and lush-green tea plantations. The idea was to get players in shape and acclimatizing them for the challenging English conditions.

However, the preparations offered little comfort as Sri Lanka lost both their practice matches against New Zealand before heading to Manchester for their opening game against a formidable Clive Lloyd-led West Indies side.

All 11 players walked out onto the field that day making their ODI debuts simultaneously, carrying with them bated breath and the dreams of a nation.

The start was less than ideal. Manchester greeted the teams with green, overcast, and gloomy conditions - a dream sight for any fast bowler, let alone the fearsome West Indies pace attack. With limited experience and minimal exposure to conditions of this nature, the Sri Lankan batters struggled to cope.

The Anura Tennekoon-led side could only manage 86 runs from their allotted 60 overs against a bowling side that boasted of Bernard Julien, Andy Roberts, Vanburn Holder and Keith Boyce. The scorecard resembled a mobile number with the spinner D.S. de Silva top-scoring with a modest 21 runs. No one else could go past 15. Then what? It was a total that proved a comfortable stroll for the dominant West Indies, who chased it down in just 20.4 overs.

The match concluded considerably earlier than anticipated. Many Sri Lankan supporters who had travelled to Manchester were left infuriated with no cricket action left to watch. To pacify the disappointed crowd, a 20-over exhibition match was arranged. West Indies prevailed in this match too, but Sri Lanka showed markedly greater resolve and skill in the second outing.

That spirit, however, came at a cost. “By playing that, we were totally demoralized,” recalled Ranjit Fernando in “An Island’s Eleven” by Nicholas Brooks. It is a sobering reminder that even a spirited showing can leave its mark on players already tested by the weight of history.

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Ben Stokes: Phoenix From The Ashes (Review)

Lakshit Singhal — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 04:30:38 GMT

A well-made sports documentary wields power to bridge boundaries between an athlete and the fans in a way very few things can. It simply humanizes the entire journey and acts as a reality check for the fans to look at the life of their favourite player from a broader perspective. And most importantly, it allows you to look at sport as more than a win-loss binary. This is exactly where Ben Stokes: Phoenix from the Ashes shines.

The 104-minute film chronicles Stokes' journey both on and off the field. It just doesn't focus on Stokes' rise to fame or his achievements as a cricketer. The director duo of Chris Grubb and Luke Mellows set out to tell the human story behind the celebrated match-winner that Stokes has emerged to be for English cricket. We see Stokes breaking stereotypes, shredding his vulnerabilities and reflecting back on the events that shaped his personal as well as professional life.

His involvement in an incident of affray in 2017 was a defining moment in his life. The film allows him to share his side of the story where he comes down heavily on the biased media trials and the unsupportive administrators whom he refers to as people in 'suits'. His family dynamics are explored with compassion and woven seamlessly into the narrative.

There is focus on the relationship he shared with his father and how his terminal illness affected him. His mother's lawsuit against the Sun newspaper and how he blamed cricket for all that ensued on his family. The film beautifully connects these incidents to make us comprehend the void within him that ultimately led him to take a break from the game he loved and adored so much. It is painful to see him reflect on these incidents in the interview with Sam Mendes but they are the highlights of this film.

That Ben Stokes found himself in so many crunch situations on the cricket field made it ripe for the creators to create a gripping narrative. From conceding four sixes in the final over of the 2016 T20 World Cup Final in Kolkata to scripting a dream summer of 2019 for his team, the cinematic depiction of cricketing highs of his career elevate his status of being a special cricketer. “I don't do what I do to make people think good of me. I do what I do because I love the sport.”, he says after leading his team to their inaugural World Cup title.

The film, however, lacks insights on the development of his craft and skill as a cricketer. We do get to see interviews of his teammates including Jos Butler, Joe Root, Stuart Broad and Mark Wood, sharing their anecdotes about him at various points in time in his career. But a little more depth about his growth as a dynamic all-rounder would have delighted the cricket fan in me.

Final Take: Must Watch

Aided by stunning cinematography, the Amazon documentary is not novel but engaging in its storytelling. It aims at starting a conversation about mental health and shall motivate more people to acknowledge their state of being. For a sport so uniquely rich in stories and characters, we need more storytellers to take initiatives in bringing these incredible stories to the fore. The film concludes with Sam Mendes sharing this quote:

"A man’s work is nothing more or less than the slow trek to rediscover those great and simple images in the presence of which his heart first opened".

The inherent message within the quote aptly sums up the film. I think this will stay with me forever.

The film is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

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Wrist Assured (Review)

Lakshit Singhal — Sun, 31 May 2026 10:17:00 GMT

Author: Gundappa Vishwanath and R. Kaushik
Publisher: Rupa Publications
Length: 280 Pages

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There is a moment early in Wrist Assured that sets the tone for everything that follows. Gundappa Vishwanath, one of Indian cricket’s most elegant batters, declares that his favourite cricketing memory is not a Test century or a series triumph. Instead, it is his first-class debut, a 230 for Mysore against Andhra in the Ranji Trophy. That tells you everything about the man and the book.

The autobiography moves along a clean chronological arc, covering the full sweep of Vishwanath’s career. Chapters devoted to India’s historic Test victories in England and the West Indies in 1971 capture the pioneering spirit of that era, and there are delightful personal anecdotes scattered throughout. Among them, is the charming story of being cradled like a baby by the towering Tony Greig.

Perhaps the most illuminating chapter is the one dedicated entirely to the famous Vishwanath square cut. He traces the shot’s origins not to natural gift but to practical necessity. The cut required no great physical power, allowing him instead to feed off the bowler’s own pace. The numbers validate the instinct: an astonishing 4,000 of his 6,080 Test runs came through that single stroke.

Then there is the 97 not out at Madras against the West Indies - an innings the book rightly titles "When 97 Trumped a 100." Vishwanath grows visibly emotional recounting it, dwelling on two back-foot punches off Keith Boyce that raced to the straight boundary with such ferocity that the entire slip cordon broke into appreciation.

It is an innings that lives rent-free in the memory of everyone who witnessed it. And yet, with characteristic modesty, Vishwanath rates his 124 against the West Indies at the same ground in 1979 as the superior knock. That generosity toward his own performances, never self-aggrandizing, always reflective, runs through the entire book.

What distinguishes Wrist Assured from many cricket autobiographies is its generosity of spirit. Vishwanath never diminishes one cricketer to elevate another. His comparisons across generations are respectful and measured. He devotes a full chapter to the contemporaries who shaped him, and another to ten Indian stalwarts of Test cricket. It is a thoughtful addition that broadens the book’s scope beyond individual memoir.

His reverence for the Ranji Trophy throughout is also notable. He regards it as India’s most prestigious domestic tournament. He says:

“Prasanna lifting the Ranji Trophy is one of the greatest moments of my cricketing career”.

The book has genuine character, too. Vishwanath doesn’t retreat into diplomatic vagueness. “It angers me when I see batsmen hurl their bat after being dismissed. What’s the bat’s fault now?” You may agree or disagree, but the voice is unmistakably his own. So is the quiet philosophy: “What’s the point of playing anything if you’re not better today than you were yesterday.” His concern about dwindling Test match crowds adds a note of contemporary relevance that many readers will recognise.

If there is a reservation, it lies in the prose. The writing is clean and accessible, but the storytelling occasionally feels one-dimensional, lacking the texture and depth that might have elevated certain passages. A richer narrative voice could have done fuller justice to a life so richly lived.

That aside, Wrist Assured is a genuinely rewarding read. It is honest, warm, and suffused with a love of cricket in its purest form. Vishwanath has laid his heart out on these pages, and it shows.

My Rating

3.5/5

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Bernard Bosanquet - The Man Who Invented The Googly

Lakshit Singhal — Wed, 27 May 2026 10:52:32 GMT

Let me first explain what a googly is. A conventional leg-break from a spinner turns from left to right. A conventional off-break turns from right to left. A googly is the one which looks like a normal leg break but spins towards the batter like an off-break. Also known as the ‘wrong ‘un’, googly is delivered from the back of the hand with an inverted wrist. As the grip is same for both leg-break and googly, it is extremely difficult for the batter to spot the difference, making googly a supremely effective weapon for the bowlers.

The inception of googly dates back to 1897. The birth of this mysterious delivery lies in Twisti-Twosti - a game in which you bounce a ball on a table so that the person sitting at the opposite end is unable to catch it. Bernard Bosanquet, an Oxford University student was known to experiment with slow deliveries and this teenage game opened up a whole lot of possibilities for him.

One fine day while playing Twisti-Twosti, Bosanquet noticed that he could mystify his opponent if he managed to turn the ball both ways using the same delivery method. He practiced this first with a soft ball and then moved to regular cricket ball. Initially, his dexterity didn’t receive much attention, by his own teammates as well as from his opponents. But Bosanquet persevered with it and kept practicing endlessly at the nets as well as in unofficial matches.

He ultimately gathered courage to test it in an official match between Middlesex and Leicestershire at Lord’s in 1900. Samuel Coe of Leicestershire was his first victim. Batting at 98, Coe was left astounded as he stepped down the wicket to hit the ball towards the leg side boundary, but watched the ball turn the other way. It bounced four times before reaching the wicket-keeper, who took the bails off. Batter getting out to such a slow delivery which bounced more than once became an instant subject of laugh and ridicule.

This was the start of a revolution. Googly made its first international appearance in a home series against Australia in 1902. But its devilish impact was seen when Lord Hawke’s XI led by Plum Warner toured Australia in 1903. Bosanquet knocked Victor Trumper’s middle stump with a perfectly pitched googly, after the first two leg-breaks were delightfully played in the covers. There were no jokes, laughs or contempt this time - just an announcement that googly was here to stay! Though Googly came to be known as the universal term, Australians nicknamed the particular delivery after its inventor as the ‘Bosie’.

Bosanquet’s masterful performance, including a 6-51 in the fourth test helped England regain the Ashes in 1903-04. He also ripped through the Australia batting line-up in his first test on English soil in 1905 at Trent Bridge, picking up 8 wickets. Batters, including the great Arthur Shrewsbury tried to get rid of the new bowling revelation by calling it ‘unfair’. But Bosanquet kept getting better with every ball.

Though Bosanquet himself admitted that he wasn’t the first to employ such a delivery. Many others like Attewell and E. R. Wilson had tricked and dismissed batters using this technique. But those incidents were mere accidents which lacked consistency and control. Bosanquet was perhaps the first to master the skill.

The efficacy of this unorthodox delivery paved the way for its increased adoption. Reggie Schwartz, a South African bowler who was dismissed on a googly by Bosanquet in a match between MCC and South Africa, picked up its nuances and experimented with it in a match against Oxford University. He not only aced it himself but also spread knowledge about it amongst curious youngsters and other South African bowlers.

This new delivery helped aspiring bowlers, particularly spinners become champions. It was the googly which dismissed Don Bradman in his last test appearance, evading him from a miraculous milestone. In the modern game of today, googly stands as the most lethal and devious weapon for leg-spinners around the world. With deception at its heart, it continues to embarrass the batters and thrill the spectators of the game.

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5 Must-Read Cricket Books

Lakshit Singhal — Sun, 24 May 2026 10:39:16 GMT

The five books featured here capture cricket in all its dimensions. One takes you through the smoky, complicated soul of Sri Lanka through the eyes of a man racing against time. Another sits you down and asks you to reflect on what the game has truly meant to you, personally and deeply. A third pulls back the curtain on how cricket became inseparable from India's social and political identity. Yet another breaks the game down to its finest craft - the art of a spinning finger, the stillness behind the stumps, the quiet genius of a close-in catch. And the last one hits the road entirely, turning the 2023 World Cup into a joyous, sprawling journey across a cricket-mad country.

Together, they remind us that no matter which side of a boundary you stand on, whether divided by generation, geography, or allegiance, the game has a remarkable way of pulling you in, holding a mirror up to the world around it, and never quite letting go.

1. Chinaman

Author: Shehan Karunatalika
Publisher: Penguin Books

Shehan Karunatilaka’s debut novel is an ostensible tale of Sri Lanka in the late 20th century through cricket and its many characters. A retired sports journalist, who is drinking himself to death, is on a quest to find a mystery spinner in Sri Lanka. Does he succeed in his tryst against time?

Fact and fiction, involving cricket incidents and personalities, are amalgamated with astute perfection. The storytelling is complemented with an extensively devised plot that keeps you invested throughout. Shehan’s writing is engaging, entertaining and thought-provoking. You are going to have an absolute blast reading this. Take my word for it.

You can read my full review of the book here.

2. Eye On Cricket

Author: Samir Chopra
Publisher: Harper Collins India

Eye on cricket is a collection of essays encapsulating the emotions of every cricket lover who has played or followed the game at any point in their life. Getting our first cricket bat, scoring our highest score in local cricket or enjoying an afternoon game during school/college days - each chapter in the book tugs a string that every cricket fan has buried somewhere deep withim themselves.

Samir Chopra offers a philosophical take on different types of fans and their relationship with the game. He also dwells upon topics of popular discourse - aggression and spirit of the game. The book provides an assurance that you can be divided by boundaries or generations but will always be united by cricket.

3. A Corner Of A Foreign Field

Author: Ramachandra Guha
Publisher: Penguin Books

The book is a comprehensive account of how India’s social fabric came to influence the development of cricket in India. Who were the first cricketers? When did the first Indian team toured England? What is the story behind India’s first cricket tournament? The book answers these and so much more.

Guha weaves an intriguing narrative where cricket found itself associated with social and political events in India’s history. You will be amazed to revisit the already known historical events, but with a touch of cricket. It enlightens you about how cricket found its feet in India and became an inseparable part of the Indian consciousness.

4. Mid-Wicket Tales

As the name suggests, the book is an ode to various aspects of cricket and the cricketers who excelled in them, across teams and generations. Close-in catching, captaincy, wicketkeeping, art of spin bowling and much more - the book is rooted in history, extensively researched and statistically rich.

It is a uniquely satisfying read about the thrill, approach and challenges involved with different skill sets. The authors’ nuanced writing on each subject is refreshing and provides you new perspectives and insights about the game and those who play it. You could be in India, West Indies or South Africa. But you will still find something or the other to pique your interest. Another of those books where the shared passion of the game shines through.

5. Gully Gully

Author: Aditya Iyer
Publisher: Penguin Books (Play)

Cricket World Cup is a festival, coming together of people who happen to share mutual love for a game. A game which is so engrained in every vein of our being that we forget there is a world outside it. The World Cup is arguably the biggest celebration of it. The book helps you revisit those beautiful six weeks of 2023.

The writing is fresh, sometimes poetic. Iyer delivers an entertaining prose. Cricket becomes the vehicle to travel the country and he takes the reader on a joyous and enthralling ride. Every city that hosted an India game becomes a character. From Lucknow’s food to Chennai’s weather, each chapter is filled with anecdotes and stories that are worth savoring.

Gully Gully has successfully carved out its own place among the vast library of cricket literature, standing out for its blend of travelogue, reportage, and deeply felt fandom. If you enjoy cricket writing that doubles up as a window into contemporary India, this is a book worth returning to, not just during World Cup season but any time you want to relive what the sport can mean to a country.

You can read my full review of the book here.

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A Day At The Galle Cricket Stadium

Lakshit Singhal — Wed, 20 May 2026 09:20:30 GMT

If you don’t know this about me yet, cricket is an integral part of my life. I am really keen about the history of the game and religiously spend time researching and writing about it. This was also how Cricket Field Chronicles came into existence in 2021 and if you share the passion, you can explore my work here.

In my quest for the same, I like to visit places which enlighten me about it. The Galle cricket stadium has been on my bucket list for quite some time. It is one those stadiums which is not just picturesque but also holds a lot of history and landmark cricket moments. This is the ground where Muttiah Muralidharan, the highest wicket-taker in Test Cricket, chose to play his final Test match. And on that very ground, on that very day, he claimed his 800th wicket. If that doesn’t make a place sacred, I don’t know what does.

So when I was planning my trip to Srilanka, I knew I had to include Galle in my itinerary, just so that I can visit the stadium. That no active cricket match was scheduled during that came as a disappointment but I am well aware that you don’t get everything that you dream or wish for.

The Galle cricket stadium sits right adjacent to the Galle Fort and Indian Ocean. At the entrance, you are greeted with the Board that shouts “Galle Cricket Club” along with the banners of “One Team, One Nation”, that happens to the official slogan for the National Cricket team.

Almost there.

I was not allowed entry into the stadium and understandably so. Why would they let a random tourist enter the stadium? I was determined though. I begged and pleaded. I told them I am from India and it was important for me to see the stadium. It was important. I have dreamt of it for so long.

The administrator saw through my pleadings. A simple dressed man with a moustache and curly hair, he was probably a cricket fanatic like me. He looked at me, took a few seconds pause and then gave a half smile before allowing me a quick 5-minute visit, albeit with a guard present.

I dropped my backpack and ran towards the entrance. A small, narrow and dimly lit path lead to the ground. Picture the many back angle shots in a sports movie. Where a coach or a player is exiting a tunnel into the stadium. It felt exactly like that. Only that I had the ground empty and no arousing cheers of my name.

I entered the ground. There was a knee-level fence guarding the ground. For a change, it was good to see a stadium that didn’t feel like jail. That didn’t create boundaries between the players and the viewers. No cricket was happening but I could feel and imagine the thrill of watching a Test match here in such close proximity and with a UNESCO World Heritage in the background.

The stadium hosted its first test in 1998. No major alteration could be done to the stadium at it stands in the vicinity of a UNESCO World heritage site. The stadium was terribly damaged during the 2004 Tsunami and was rebuilt with the help of Surrey Cricket Club and cricketers Shane Warne and Ian Botham.

Stadium That Doesn't Feel Like a Prison

Even with all the new additions, it remains a small-capacity stadium. But I was not complaining. I like to watch my cricket in peace, without the hullaballoo and in company of people who understand the game. Galle International Stadium checked them all.

The ground in itself was not very huge, unlike today where we are witnessing a maniac race to build large capacity stadiums just so that more and more people could be fitted in. While I support the idea that they allow for more fans to experience the game from the stadium, they are a big disappointment in terms of operations and logistics. Fans don’t get basic services like water, food and cleanliness. In a 90,000-seat stadium, cricket becomes a spectacle you watch on a screen thirty rows away. Here, you could theoretically hear the ball hit the bat before the sound reaches you.

The stadium houses two Pavilions - Mahindra Rajapaksa Pavilion and the Galle Cricket Club Pavilion. The Mahindra Rajapaksa Pavillion was constructed in 2006 and is named after the Sri Lankan President. The stadium’s location allows for fan to catch a glimpse of the action not just from within the stadium itself but also from top of the Galle Fort, which offers breathtaking views of the action.

View of the Galle stadium from the top of the Galle Fort

Despite being hot, close proximity to the ocean allows for the cool breeze to flow through the stadium. The sky was gloriously blue. I wanted to stay longer but my five minutes were over. The administrator was kind enough to not interfere in my overstay, allowing me take back happy memories. I took a last glance at the stadium and promised it that I will be back one day to catch Test match proceedings. I hope it remembers me when I do.

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Tested by Pat Cummins (Review)

Lakshit Singhal — Sun, 17 May 2026 11:39:02 GMT

Pat Cummins is, without question, one of the most compelling figures in world cricket today. As Australia's Test captain, he brings to the role an intellectual sharpness and tactical acumen that sets him apart from his contemporaries.

He reads the game with the precision of a chess grandmaster, anticipates moments before they unfold, and executes strategies with a calm, almost clinical authority. It is this same disciplined mind that has found expression not on a cricket field, but between the pages of Tested - a book that is as surprising in its ambition as it is rewarding in its execution.

Not an Autobiography

Let me be absolutely clear from the outset: Tested is not Pat Cummins’ life story. Those arriving expecting an insider’s account of Ashes battles, World Cup triumphs, or dressing room drama will need to recalibrate their expectations entirely. Instead, he has constructed something far more ambitious: a leadership and self-help framework built on the wisdom of eleven extraordinary individuals drawn from vastly different arenas of human endeavour.

Podcasters, business magnates, media personalities, film producers, and politicians - the breadth of voices assembled here is nothing short of remarkable. This is, at its heart, a curated collection of wisdom, carefully chosen and thoughtfully presented.

The Effort Behind the Pages

One cannot understate the logistical and relational effort that must have gone into assembling such a diverse group of interviewees. Getting eleven high-profile personalities to sit down, reflect, and share with candour is no small feat.

It requires trust, credibility, and considerable diplomatic skill. Cummins and his team deserve genuine admiration for pulling this off. The book is, in many ways, a testament to the respect that Cummins commands far beyond the boundary ropes.

Conversations That Stay With You

While each chapter offers depth and substance, a few conversations stand out as particularly memorable.

The discussion with Julia Gillard, Australia’s first female Prime Minister, is a masterclass in resilience and leading under relentless public scrutiny. Her reflections on navigating institutional resistance, maintaining conviction in the face of criticism, and the personal cost of public service offer lessons that resonate far beyond the political arena.

Ronnie Screwvala, the Indian media and film mogul turned entrepreneur and philanthropist, brings a different energy. His story is a reminder that great leadership often demands the willingness to disrupt oneself before the world does it for you.

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But it is the chapter with Dennis Lillee that arguably forms the emotional and intellectual core of the book. Lillee, one of cricket’s most ferocious and intelligent fast bowlers, opens up about the World Series Cricket revolution, the Kerry Packer-backed movement that shook the cricketing establishment to its foundations in the late 1970s.

The chapter is a rich meditation on change, institutional resistance, and the courage it takes to challenge orthodoxy in the service of progress. It explores how World Series Cricket, despite the controversy it generated, ultimately modernised the game, transforming it into the commercially vibrant and globally watchable spectacle it is today.

Fittingly titled “Amateurs try, professionals prepare and adapt”, the Lillee chapter carries an additional layer of personal significance for Cummins. It is here that he reflects openly and vulnerably on his injury struggles - the repeated stress fractures that threatened to derail his career before it truly began.

Lillee, in his role as a bowling coach, played a pivotal part in helping the young Cummins develop a more sustainable and biomechanically sound action. There is a newness about a fast bowling legend passing on not just technique, but a philosophy of longevity and professional discipline to the next generation.

A Blueprint for Leadership

The overarching theme that binds Tested together is leadership. Each interviewee, in their own way, illuminates a different facet of what it means to lead with integrity, adapt under pressure, and build something that outlasts individual moments of glory.

Cummins is smart enough to know that abstract leadership lessons can feel hollow without context. And so, threading through the chapters like a golden seam, are his own cricketing reflections - anecdotes, observations, and hard-won insights from his journey through international cricket.

These interludes serve a dual purpose: they make the book accessible to cricket fans who might otherwise find the subject matter mundane, and they ground loftier ideas in the lived, visceral reality of high-performance sport. It is a smart structural choice, one that keeps the narrative grounded while allowing the wisdom of the interviewees to breathe and resonate.

The result is a book that is genuinely enriching in its diversity of perspectives. Whether it is lessons in perseverance from the world of sport, strategic clarity from the business world, or the art of communication and persuasion from media and politics - each chapter adds a distinct colour to the overall canvas.

A Personal Reflection Woven Throughout

What gives Tested its quiet emotional depth is the thread of personal reflection that Cummins weaves throughout. He reflects on formative moments, personal setbacks, career crossroads and leadership challenges with sincerity .

In that sense, while Tested is not an autobiography, it is deeply autobiographical in spirit. It tells us who Pat Cummins is, not through a chronological recounting of events, but through the questions he asks, the people he admires, and the ideas he finds worth sharing with the world.

Final Thoughts

Tested is a genuinely original offering in the landscape of cricket literature. It is thoughtful, well-constructed, and unexpectedly moving in places. It will not satisfy those seeking tales from the baggy green or behind-the-scenes cricket gossip. But for readers open to something more reflective, it is a deeply rewarding experience.

One hopes that Pat Cummins continues to accumulate experiences, wisdom, and victories in the years ahead. And when the time finally comes for him to set down his full story, a proper memoir from this remarkable cricketer will be well worth the wait.

My Rating

3/5

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A World Cup Final In The Dark

Lakshit Singhal — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 09:38:49 GMT

World Cup is a phenomenon that arrives every 4 years. For many cricketers, it is the numero uno in their cricketing journey. Fans wait with bated breath. The 2007 Men’s ODI World Cup is remembered for all the wrong reasons though. India and Pakistan’s early exit jolted the commercials of the tournament and Bob Woolmer’s sudden demise riddled it with controversies and conspiracies.

Even the final couldn’t salvage it’s lost reputation. Australia put 281 after being invited to bat by Mahela Jayawardene. Sri Lanka’s innings was reduced to 36 overs due to rain. After 33 overs, the match was stopped due to bad light and Sri Lanka were still 37 runs behind from the D/L target.

Since the minimum required 20 overs had been bowled, Australia started to celebrate. They thought they had won by employing the D/L method. But their happiness was short-lived. The match officials decided that since the match was stopped due to bad light and not rain, the remaining 3 overs will have to bowled the next day. Only after that the result could be declared.

Ricky Ponting later revealed that he told the umpires that he will not be able to field the team next day since they would be partying the whole night. But the umpires were adamant. In a comical turn off events, they were even seen shooing away people from the crowd, including the presenters and ground staff.

With Sri Lanka requiring 63 from 3 overs, Jayawardene and Ponting had a conversation and eventually decided that the batters will come out to bat and Australia will only bowl spinners.

The Kensington Oval didn’t have any floodlights. When Malinga and Vaas came out to bat, it was pitch dark with anything barely visible. Even the enhanced view on the broadcast camera showed dimmed visuals. The batters were struggling to see the ball. They added 9 runs to their total while losing a wicket. The spectators booed at the ridiculousness of the situation. Australia won by 53 runs and were eventually crowned the World Champions amidst the shining moonlight.

The officials later admitted to their erroneous judgement on that fateful day. The ICC however could not let it go. All the five match officials comprising of Rudi Koertzen, match referee Jeff Crowe, reserve umpire Billy Bowden and the on-field umpires Aleem Dar and Steve Buckner were suspended from officiating in the T20 WC later that year.

Taking nothing from Australia, but the management and decision making in the final dampened the celebrations. The Presentation and the Closing Ceremony was a mere formality leaving the participants furious as they have been preparing for the big day with enthusiasm. The crowd left with a poor taste bringing close to a World Cup which became a lesson for the administrators and organizers.

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Lara - The England Chronicles (Review)

Lakshit Singhal — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 12:53:37 GMT

Brian Lara, for most cricket fans, is the man who scored 400 in Test cricket. That number lives in our heads. We know it the way we know a birthday or a phone number. But we never really knew the man. This book changes that.

Lara: The England Chronicles is written the way good cricket should be played - with clarity and intent. Short sentences. Simple words. From the foreword to the co-writer’s note, there is warmth on every page, and that warmth pulls you in and keeps you there.

The most beautiful idea in this book is one Lara returns to quietly but consistently. He didn’t give 17 years of his life to West Indies cricket. He received this extraordinary opportunity from West Indies cricket and its people. That shift in perspective from sacrifice to gratitude is what separates a great autobiography from a good one and it tells you everything about the man writing it.

What makes this autobiography truly distinct, though, is its singular focus. This is a West Indies versus England story. Every tour, every rivalry, every friendship is filtered through that lens, and it gives the book a rare coherence that most cricket autobiographies lack. This also hints at the prospect of a sequel - focusing on other contests. But Lara is no tribal storyteller. His admiration for English cricketers is generous and specific.

He loved Atherton's pulls and drives. Flintoff's wrists gave him genuine trouble, and that is not a small admission. Flintoff dismissed him eight times in four Tests during the 2004 tour and Lara says so plainly. Then there is Jimmy Anderson. The best ball Lara ever faced in his entire career came from a young Anderson and it happened to be Lara's last Test against England.

The emotional intelligence throughout is what surprised me most. The authors break down personalities with a nuance that cuts against the usual tendency to generalize. Lara places Carl Hooper above himself in terms of sheer talent - above Tendulkar too. High praise from a man of his stature. But when it comes to who he wanted beside him at the crease, he picks Jimmy Adams. That distinction between talent and trust is the kind of insight you rarely find in sports writing.

When Lara describes captaincy as the impossible job, you understand why. The burden of leading a West Indies side in decline, the politics, the loneliness of it - he does not dramatize any of this. He simply tells it and the honesty lands harder for that.

What strikes you early is how much of this book is about West Indies cricket as a whole, not just Lara’s place in it. He writes about different eras, the defining figures, their contributions. When he describes Malcolm Marshall as poetry in motion, you feel it. Marshall retired at 33, and Lara reminds us, with quiet sadness, that there was so much more left to give.

The father-son chapter, a fixture in most sporting memoirs, earns its place here. Lara’s father never missed a match. That single line carries weight. You understand, without being told directly, where the discipline and the hunger came from.

The chapter on the world record innings carries its own kind of magic. Sir Gary Sobers was in the stands in Antigua the day Lara broke his record of 365 and Lara calls that destiny. But scoring 375 and 501 within six weeks of each other is not just fate. It is what happens when preparation meets an unbreakable will, when a man who has spent his whole life obsessing over the game is finally handed the stage to prove it.

One honest note before you pick up the book. Lara's claim that Viv Richards made Carl Hooper cry on a weekly basis has been publicly denied by both men, who have asked for an apology. It is a controversy worth knowing about. But it does not take away from what is otherwise a book of rare warmth and honesty.

Verdict

Borrowing from what Lara says in the book: life is about moments and it is the memories we made that will hang around long after we are gone. That is exactly what this book is - a collection of moments, beautifully remembered and generously shared. The story and the style work together in a way that is genuinely hard to put down. Recommended!

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No Ball: The Strike That Threatened English Cricket

Lakshit Singhal — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 08:12:57 GMT

In the early 20th century, cricket was an integral part of British culture, with the sport being deeply ingrained in the fabric of English life. However, just before the outbreak of World War I, a significant event threatened to disrupt this beloved pastime: a strike by cricket ball manufacturers in Kent. But what prompted this strike?

For over 150 years, Kent had been renowned for producing high-quality cricket balls, with firms like Dukes and Alfred Reader leading the industry. These balls were not only used domestically but also exported to countries like Australia and India.

In the April of 1914, cricket ball makers in Tonbridge, Kent, went on strike, demanding a wage increase of five shillings per dozen balls. The workers, who were engaged in this industry and were considered highly skilled, earned only about 30 shillings per week, a wage that was deemed insufficient by the workers.

The strike was led by the Amalgamated Society of Cricket Ball Makers, a union that played a crucial role in advocating for workers’ rights in the industry.

The strike garnered considerable attention from both the public and media, with many sympathetic to the workers’ cause. Editorials in major newspapers supported the strikers, emphasizing cricket’s popularity and urging for a resolution to avoid disruption during the summer months.

After several weeks of negotiation, an agreement was reached between the union and the manufacturers, averting a potential cancellation of the cricket season. However, this resolution was short-lived, as the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 led to a halt in first-class cricket across England, Australia, and other nations involved in the conflict.

After the war, the Amalgamated Society of Cricket Ball Makers continued to advocate for workers’ rights. But the industry began to decline as manufacturing moved to lower-wage countries like India and Pakistan. Strikes continued to occur, such as in 1930 and 1953, but the industry’s heyday was coming to an end.

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The Miracle Makers (Review)

Lakshit Singhal — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 09:36:38 GMT

Whenever I think of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21, certain images come flooding back - early morning viewings, a David vs Goliath narrative, the triumph of the human spirit. But alongside the memories has always lingered a deeper curiosity: how did these men go so far beyond their call of duty to produce a cricket tour that will be remembered as one of the greatest ever played? The Miracle Makers by Bharat Sundaresan and Gaurav Joshi sets out to answer exactly that.

@beastieboy07 , this was my first book launch. Turned out to be so much fun. The Miracle Makers is finally here. Can't wait to get started. @Gampa_cricket @PenguinIndia #INDvsAUS #BorderGavaskarTrophy2023 #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/kGiNp85VNx

— Cricket Field Chronicles 🏏 (@cfc_cricket) February","full_text":"Just like @beastieboy07 , this was my first book launch. Turned out to be so much fun. The Miracle Makers is finally here. Can't wait to get started. @Gampa_cricket @PenguinIndia #INDvsAUS #BorderGavaskarTrophy2023 #CricketTwitter ","username":"cfc_cricket","name":"Cricket Field Chronicles 🏏","profile_image_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/profile_images/1806757881452113920/b6BrogHb_normal.jpg","date":"2023-02-22T16:25:02.000Z","photos":[{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/FplZByOacAM56kZ.jpg","link_url":"https://t.co/kGiNp85VNx"},{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/FplZCidacAIsVG5.jpg","link_url":"https://t.co/kGiNp85VNx"},{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/FplZDTEagAAlqQp.jpg","link_url":"https://t.co/kGiNp85VNx"},{"img_url":"https://pbs.substack.com/media/FplZEQCakAA4gh0.jpg","link_url":"https://t.co/kGiNp85VNx"}],"quoted_tweet":{},"reply_count":2,"retweet_count":2,"like_count":18,"impression_count":2189,"expanded_url":null,"video_url":null,"belowTheFold":false}" data-component-name="Twitter2ToDOM">

The book offers a first-hand account of those three fateful months when India toured Australia. When Bharat announced he was writing about this tour, I knew I was in for a joyride - for two reasons. I had read his previous works and found his writing candid, humorous, and refreshingly honest. And the fact that he and Gaurav had covered the entire tour on the ground made the prospect all the more exciting.

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April 2, 2011: The Night of Dreams, Triumph and Ecstasy

Lakshit Singhal — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 04:30:15 GMT

Paulo Coelho once wrote, "When you really desire something from the heart and soul, the whole universe conspires to help you achieve it." I first encountered those words in 2007. I nodded along, the way you do when something sounds profound but hasn't yet found a home inside you. It took four more years, and one extraordinary night, for that sentence to finally mean something.

A Nation Holding Its Breath

It was the first week of a new school term. I was in XIIth grade, and I did not want to go to school that day. Not with India in a World Cup final. Not at home.

There was a particular quality to the air that week - a collective restlessness, a barely suppressed excitement that had seeped into every conversation, every classroom, every street corner. People who never watched cricket were suddenly opinionated about the batting order. Even teachers seemed distracted.

I was too young to fully articulate it then, but I could feel it: an entire nation had drawn a single, shared breath and was refusing to let it go. This is one of the things that has always drawn me to sport - its uncanny ability to unite people across every divide, to turn strangers into co-conspirators in pursuit of a common dream.

The Coin Flipped Twice

I missed the toss. It was only later that I learned the coin had refused to cooperate on that eventful evening. It had to be flipped not once but twice before the universe settled on its decision. In hindsight, of course it did. Nothing about that night was going to be straightforward.

Before Sachin mesmerized the cricket viewers, Zaheer Khan rose to the occasion. He bowled a neat and tidy opening spell of 5-3-6-1, hardly giving anything away and making sure Srilanka never got far away.

By the time India began their chase, the sun had already slipped below the horizon. Wankhede was glowing under floodlights. And there was Sachin, in his sixth and final World Cup, walking out to bat in the final, at home, in front of his city. If the universe was conspiring, it was doing so with considerable flair.

A Glimpse of Genius

His time at the crease was not long. But it contained multitudes. That straight drive off Kulasekara was pure, effortless, inevitable. It is a moment I carry with me still. It was the kind of shot that reminds you why you fell in love with the game in the first place.

When he was dismissed, the tension became almost physical. Every delivery that followed felt like a held breath. Every run was simultaneously a relief and an invitation for fresh anxiety.

When the Streets Came Alive

Then, suddenly, it was over. Dhoni’s six cleared the boundary, and something in the air broke open.

Fireworks lit up the sky. Sweets found their way to evrybody’’s hands . Strangers embraced on streets that had, moments earlier, been deserted. The celebrations were loud and unrestrained, but what struck me most was how personal it felt - intimate, almost, for something happening at national scale.

I think part of it was that social media had not yet arrived to mediate our joy. There were no feeds to scroll, no highlights to repost. The feeling was raw, unfiltered and entirely your own. You either lived it or you didn’t.

What a Dream Looks Like When It Lands

That night, I understood the Coelho quote for the first time. Not as a piece of inspiration to be pinned on a wall, but as something true.

A 28-year wait had ended. Dhoni had done the unthinkable. Sachin Tendulkar was, finally, a World Cup winner. And watching it all unfold, I began to understand what it really means to pursue a dream. Not just the desire and the discipline, but the convergence: of timing, of circumstance, of a hundred things falling into place at once.

A dream realized is rarely just one person’s doing. It is a collection of wills, a confluence of moments, and occasionally, on certain extraordinary nights, the universe itself lending a hand.

A generation had lived their dream. And in doing so, they handed something to the next one: an identity, a legacy, and the quiet, stubborn belief that some things are worth waiting 28 years for.

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5 Must-Read Cricket Biographies

Lakshit Singhal — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 04:30:55 GMT

Cricket has always been a game built on personalities, quiet sacrifices and moments that rarely make the highlights reel. The five books on this list span six decades of Indian cricket, from Salim Durani's flamboyant presence in the 1960s to the recent accounts of Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara.

Together, they offer a layered portrait of what it has meant to play for India, to captain a side, to bowl with principle and to love someone who has given their life to the game. What connects them is not statistics or silverware but the texture of lives lived at close quarters with cricket and the human beings behind the averages.

1. The Dhoni Touch

Author: Bharat Sundaresan
Published By: Penguin

Dhoni has always been one of those figures who generates enormous warmth and almost no real disclosure. Sundaresan, rather than chase the man directly, goes around him - to childhood friends in Ranchi, to army contacts, to CSK insiders. The result is a portrait assembled from the edges inward.

It does not pretend to unravel Dhoni completely. What it does, more honestly, is show why the mystery itself is part of the appeal. For a captain who changed how India thought about winning, this is the closest thing to an origin story that exists in print.

The book however plays it safe, just like the Neeraj Pandey directorial Biopic M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story. It steers away from the controversies and misses out on talking about life-changing moments of Dhoni’s journey in detail.

Buy on Amazon

2. The Rise of the Hitman

Author: R. Kaushik
Published By: Rupa Publications

The book explores the character, personality and leadership of one of India’s most accomplished cricketers - Rohit Sharma.

Most of the book is a recollection of events and statistics and the storytelling lacks depth and excitement.

You can read my full review of the book here:

Buy on Amazon

3. The Diary of a cricketer's wife

Author: Puja Pujara and Namita Kala
Published By: Harper Collins

Cricket writing rarely moves indoors. Puja Pujara's memoir changes that. She came to the game with no background in it, married Cheteshwar Pujara in 2013, and then spent years learning - the nutrition requirements, the selection anxieties, the particular silence that follows a bad match.

It is a deeply intimate and personal account revealing not only what it takes to be a professional cricketer but also the everyday struggles faced by the family.

This is also the first time we are given a detailed peek into Cheteshwar Pujara. There are quite a few things about him that stood out for me, which you will know when you read the book.

With a strong focus on relationships, the book will appeal to cricket and non-cricket fans alike.

You can read my full review of the book here:

4. Salim Durani: The Prince of Indian cricket

Author: Gulu Ezekiel
Published By: Rupa Publications

Ezekiel's biography was long overdue. It recovers a figure who had begun to slip from memory and places him back where he belongs: at the centre of the story of Indian cricket in the 1960s, a time when the game here was finding its character.

It breaks myth and ground with fantastic storytelling.

Though Durani remains the epicentre and understandably so, there is much more to know and learn about the highs and lows of Indian Cricket.

5. The Sardar of Spin

Author: Neha Bedi
Editors: Sachin Bajaj and Venkat Sundaram
Published By: Roli Publications

Published to mark Bishan Singh Bedi's 75th birthday, this is not a conventional biography but an anthology, comprising of thirty-four essays by cricketers, writers, and opponents who knew him in different capacities.

The form suits the subject. Bedi was never a straightforward figure: too principled for his own comfort, too outspoken to be universally loved, too gifted to be ignored.

Contributors range from Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar to Mike Brearley and Michael Holding, and together they build a picture of a man who treated slow left-arm bowling as a craft worth defending with the same ferocity he brought to everything else he believed in.

Let me know which book you enjoyed reading this year, especially if they don’t appear on the list.

I will be back with another review and more book lists and recommendations. Happy Reading!

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