Cricket Field Chronicles

Wrist Assured (Review)

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

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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Spin's Greatest Illusion - The Unlikely Origins Of 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.

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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.

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:

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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When Tony Grieg Cradled Vishwanath Like A Baby

Lakshit Singhal — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 04:30:50 GMT

There are moments in cricket that transcend the dynamics of rivalry and competitiveness. Where skill trumps scorecard. One such incident unfolded at the Brabourne Stadium in February 1973, during England's tour of India. Today's story is about that incident with Gundappa Vishwanath at it's centre.

In India's first innings of the fifth Test, Vishwanath walked in at 221 for 4. He had already played a gritty knock of 75 in the last Test in Kanpur, a marathon innings that lasted for 4 hours. Having found his rhythm and confidence, Vishwanath continued to bat with authority and eye-pleasing shots that went on to became the hallmark of his batting.

As he entered the nervous 90's, Tony Grieg walked up to Vishwanath and in a moment of candidness told him that "he would be up to something" when Vishwanath reaches the three figure mark.

Vishwanath may have been anxious but Grieg was absolutely certain. As the summit was scaled, Grieg lifted Vishwanath and cradled him like a baby.

The contrast was irresistible - Greig, at six-feet-six, hoisting the compact Vishwanath off his feet and rocking him gently, as the crowd roared its approval. Later when Grieg scored a century in the same match, Gavaskar conspired with Vishy to lift Grieg and return the compliment. The duo attempted only to realize that the big boy was a no-match for them.

It was cricket at its most joyous, rivalry giving way to pure, unrehearsed camaraderie. The century also carried statistical significance. It was Vishwanath's second Test hundred, and in scoring it, he became the first Indian player to score a century after having scored one on Test debut.

Though it would be unfair to assess Vishy’s genius through centuries or landmarks, the Brabourne century thus stood as further confirmation of what India had already begun to sense: that in Vishwanath, they had a batsman of rare and enduring class.

On this February afternoon in Bombay, he gave the crowd everything - runs, beauty, and a moment of pure theatre, courtesy of a giant Englishman who knew genius when he saw it.

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Blood on the Pitch: Nari Contractor, Charlie Griffith and Frank Worrell’s Gift

Lakshit Singhal — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 11:32:49 GMT

A Warning at the Cocktail Hour

The year was 1962, and India’s touring cricketers were already in trouble before they had faced a single ball. Injuries had ravaged the squad, and the mood was tense when, at a cocktail party on the eve of the tour game against Barbados, West Indies captain Frank Worrell pulled the Indian camp aside with a quiet word of warning.

Charles Griffith, Worrell told them, was not a man to be trifled with. He was crude and hostile, the kind of bowler who once struck an eighteen-year-old batsman on the head and walked away without so much as a glance back. His advice was blunt: better to get out than to get hit.

Nobody in the Indian dressing room knew just how prophetic those words would prove to be.

The Making of a Captain

Nari Contractor had not arrived at the captaincy by accident. Since his Test debut in 1955, he had steadily built a reputation as a technically sound and temperamentally strong batsman. An assured 81 at Lord’s in 1959, followed by a composed century at home against Australia later that year, had cemented his place in the side. When he was named captain, he became the youngest man to hold the role in Indian cricket at that time.

His finest hour as a leader came in 1961-62, when he guided India to a historic series victory over England on home soil. It was a triumph that raised expectations for the West Indies tour that followed. What lay ahead, however, was something no preparation could have anticipated.

Into the Lion’s Den

The West Indies of the early 1960s were a formidable side, and touring their backyard was an exercise in endurance for any opposition. For Contractor’s injury-depleted squad, it was something closer to ordeal. India were routed in the first two Tests by enormous margins, and the captain himself struggled with the bat. By the time the tour match against Barbados arrived, the side was running on fumes.

Contractor had not been due to play. But with the injury list growing by the day, he had no choice but to take the field.

Barbados possessed a fearsome attack: Wes Hall, George Rock, and the man Worrell had warned them about - Charlie Griffith. The home side batted first and piled up 394. Then it was India’s turn.

The Delivery That Changed Everything

From the non-striker’s end, Rusi Surti watched Contractor face up to Griffith and grew increasingly uneasy. The action didn’t look right. He leaned over and warned his captain that Griffith appeared to be throwing the ball. Contractor, focused and composed at the crease, told him not to be distracted and report it to the umpire if he thought it necessary.

The next delivery never reached the bat.

Griffith’s ball struck Contractor on the head, just behind the right ear. He crumpled to the ground instantly, blood pouring from his nose and ears. The crowd fell silent. He was stretchered off and rushed to hospital, where a local surgeon operated immediately to stabilise him before a neurosurgeon could be brought in.

Decades later, Contractor revealed to journalist Rajdeep Sardesai - in his book Democracy’s XI, the reason he never picked up the ball. When Griffith ran in to bowl, a window had opened in a dark room behind the bowler’s arm. The sudden flood of light blinded him at the critical moment. He never saw the delivery that would end his international career.

Blood Donors and Brotherhood

Back at the ground, the match continued. Many of the players did not yet know the full gravity of what had happened.

Contractor had lost dangerous amounts of blood. Teammates with matching blood groups stepped forward to donate. This included the likes of Chandu Borde, Bapu Nadkarni, and Polly Umrigar. But the most moving gesture came from the opposition. Frank Worrell, the man who had tried to warn Contractor just days earlier, quietly rolled up his sleeve and gave his blood too.

That evening, after stumps were drawn, Griffith made his way to the hospital to check on the man he had felled.

For six long days, Contractor drifted in and out of consciousness. When he finally came round, the relief in the ward was palpable. The incident sent shockwaves across the cricket world, triggering widespread calls for bouncers to be banned from the game.

Contractor himself would have none of it. “I wouldn’t like to create a situation,” he said, “where anybody could point a finger at me and say: because he was hit, he’s a crybaby.”

A 21-Year-Old Steps Up

India’s tour did not stop. With their captain hospitalised, vice-captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, just twenty-one years old, was thrust into the breach. He became India’s youngest ever Test captain, inheriting a side already 2–0 down and still reeling from the trauma of watching their leader fall. India would go on to lose the series 5–0.

The Legacy of Worrell’s Kindness

Worrell’s act of generosity at the hospital was never forgotten. Every year on February 3rd, Frank Worrell Day is observed in West Bengal, where the Cricket Association of Bengal organises a blood donation drive in his memory - a small but meaningful tribute to a man who, in a moment of human crisis, set aside all sporting rivalry.

The irony is painful: Worrell, who gave his blood to save a rival, would die of leukaemia at just forty-two years old.

The Comeback That Wasn’t

Nari Contractor’s courage in the months that followed was remarkable. Barely ten months after nearly losing his life, he was back in domestic cricket. He harboured genuine hope of reclaiming his India place.

It never came. He was never selected again.

His story remains one of cricket’s great what-ifs - a career interrupted not by age or form, but by a ball he simply never saw coming.

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I Have the Streets (Review)

Lakshit Singhal — Sat, 14 Mar 2026 12:01:21 GMT

Tennis-ball cricket is the heartbeat of our country. The friendships and the bonds we make. The custom rules we designed to suit our playing area. Or the unique ways invented to find the lost ball. In “I Have The Streets”, Ashwin takes us on a journey into our childhood where our evening cricket playing time was the most cherished time.

Many autobiographies tend to rush and skip to the part where the cricketer is already established or has achieved some sort of recognition. But Ashwin goes the unconventional way. He gives his childhood due acknowledgement. You get to know about his health struggles. He also talks about the relationship with his Appa, which is endearing.

He fondly remembers his childhood friends with whom he has grown up playing cricket on the streets. Just like all of us, each one of his friends has a unique characteristic which Ashwin has beautifully narrated, adding an element of humor and relatability.

The writing is simple, concise & to the point. Collaborating with Sidharth Monga is a winning move.

Ashwin has a reputation of being raw and brutally honest. He is known to stand for what he thought was right, even if it meant a professional setback. These traits have been inculcated in him from his childhood, which you get to know through various instances shared in the book.

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Cricket anecdotes are plenty as you would expect from an autobiography. He talks in detail about his relationship with MSD and how it has evolved over time.

The writing is characterized by an equal respect and acknowledgement for other art forms in the game, particularly bowling. He writes:

“Then Irfan errs, as bowlers do because they are not machines”.

This is a work of a writer who looks at the game objectively and is keen on maintaining the balance which is quickly loosing its sheen. Such thoughts will give the upcoming generation a balanced and contrary perspective towards the game, which is the highlight of the book for me.

Final Take

The book ends with the 2011 World Cup win. We don’t get much to read on Ashwin’s journey as a Test cricketer. Neither do we get to know about his process and preparation for famous tours such as the BGT. This is my only grievance from the book. I hope Ashwin has a second edition planned for us.

This one is a must read though.

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Cricket, Crowns and Conspiracies: Inside Vizzy’s Infamous Captaincy

Lakshit Singhal — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 08:44:25 GMT

Cricket in India owes its robust foundation and unwavering popularity largely to the efforts of the rulers of the princely states. Under their patronage, cricket prospered and emerged as a unifying force. The Maharajas would scout and hone talent, organize local tournaments and even sponsor foreign tours.

However, there was another side to it. Their own cricket ability, good or bad, was of little relevance. Instead, it was their financial strength and connections that paved the way for them to assert their supremacy, even in cricketing matters.

Patiala vs Vizzy: A Rivalry Beyond the Boundary

It was against this backdrop that animosity between the Maharaja of Patiala and Vizianagaram peaked, especially after the formation of BCCI in 1928. Even though Patiala was richer and more skilled as a cricketer, ‘Vizzy’ was driven by his ambition to captain India.

He succeeded in drafting a star-studded side composed of Herbert Sutcliffe and Jack Hobbs for a tour in 1931 - no easy feat by any means. In response, Patiala arranged the training for England’s tour of 1932 at Bardari Palace in Patiala and also offered to sponsor the tour.

Vizzy looked to strengthen his position in the power dynamics. He had an amicable relationship with the then Viceroy, Lord Willingdon and offered to donate a ‘golden’ Willingdon trophy to winners of India’s national championship in 1934. Patiala blocked his attempts by donating a similar trophy but in the honor of RanjitSinghji, one that continues to be played to this day. However, Vizzy was relentless and his continuous interplay of politics and sport ultimately reaped benefits in 1936, when he was chosen the captain for the tour of England.

Chaos in England

As soon as the team landed on English shores, Vizzy’s arrogance and abject understanding of the game wreaked havoc. He once bribed an opposition player to bowl him full tosses and weaker deliveries so that he could score runs. That he was a substandard player was no revelation. However, his leadership drew sharp criticism even from his own teammates, who asked him to step down and make way for Nayudu to be appointed captain.

This left Vizzy infuriated. He made Baqa Jilani insult Nayudu at the breakfast table prior to the third test in return for a test cap. His feud with Lala Amarnath had far-reaching consequences for Indian cricket.

The Lala Amarnath episode

The confrontation began over field placements during a tour match but later escalated when Amarnath was demoted in the batting order and forced to bowl and field despite severe back pain. Vizzy would ask Amarnath to pad up and not send him to bat until the end of the day, which once prompted an intense outburst from Amarnath.

The team manager, Britten Jones, consequently charged Amarnath with indiscipline. Notwithstanding the team’s chances on the tour, Vizzy and Britten Jones conspired to have their best all-rounder sent back home midway through the tour.

Another reason for this envy was Amarnath’s closeness to the Maharaja of Patiala, a long standing-rival of Vizzy. Despite his impressive performances, Amarnath was treated with utmost disdain and insensitivity. Vizzy used all his political strength to ensure Amarnath did not return to the side.

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The Vijay Merchant–Mushtaq Ali incident

The skirmishes within the team kept growing but Vizzy was not one to bow down. The next victim of his insanity was Vijay Merchant. During the second test, he instigated Syed Mushtaq Ali to run Vijay Merchant out and offered him a gold watch as a reward.

Imagine the captain of a team doing this!

Ali, however, spoke to Merchant about Vizzy’s scheme and the duo strung a mammoth 203-run partnership, denying Vizzy his share of off-the-field success.

A Ruined Tour and a Tainted Legacy

To say Vizzy’s ego-filled captaincy stint ruined the prospects of a talented team wouldn’t be wrong. This is evident from the fact that India won the third and only Test of the tour in his absence, which he had to miss in order to receive his knighthood. He did accomplish his dream of playing for India and captaining the side. However, his disastrous campaign meant this was all he had to show for his international career.

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Every Match Counts: Is this the Future of Bilateral Cricket?

Lakshit Singhal — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 14:03:00 GMT

When Indian women landed in Australia in February 2026, they arrived as reigning ODI World Cup champions, having stunned the hosts in a dramatic semi-final just months earlier. This tour is also historic in structure: it is the first time since 2021 that India and Australia are contesting a full multi-format series on Australian soil, and it is built around a points-based system designed so that every single match, in every format, genuinely counts.

The Multi-Format Points System: How It Works

The series uses a framework borrowed directly from the Women’s Ashes, the pioneer of the multi-format, points-based contest. The teams play three T20 Internationals, three One Day Internationals, and a one-off Test match. In this system, T20Is and ODIs each carry 2 points for a win, 0 for a loss, and 1 point per side for a tie or no-result, while the Test is worth 4 points for a win, 2 points each in the event of a draw, and 0 for a loss.

With three T20Is and three ODIs, there are 6 points available from each white-ball format and 4 from the Test, making 16 points in total, with the overall series decided by the cumulative tally across formats. Crucially, no match exists in isolation, and every result feeds into a single overarching scoreboard that keeps the series alive until the final ball of the final match.

The Origins

The idea of a multi-format points system in women’s cricket dates back to the 2013 Women’s Ashes in England. Until then, the Ashes were decided exclusively by Test results, a tradition stretching back to the inaugural women’s Test series in 1934–35. As limited-overs cricket grew in prominence and scheduling became more congested, relying on a single Test as the ultimate decider for an entire tour began to feel increasingly out of step with the modern game.

The 2013 Women’s Ashes introduced a new model: six points for a Test win, two points apiece for a drawn Test, and two points for each limited-overs win. England dominated that Ashes, winning 12–4 overall. The 2013–14 return series in Australia was far closer, with England edging a 10–8 victory that showcased how the system could keep a series alive even when one side appeared to have the upper hand in a particular format.

In 2015, the Test allocation was revised downward from six to four points, a change Australia’s then coach Matthew Mott praised as creating a fairer balance between the formats. The now-standard structure - 4 points for a Test win, 2 for a draw, and 2 for each limited-overs win, has remained in place ever since.

Beyond the Ashes, the system was used for the first time in non-Ashes women’s cricket in 2021, when India toured England and lost a closely fought series 10–6 on points. Later that year, Australia hosted India in another multi-format contest, winning 11–5 after taking the ODI series 2–1, the T20I series 2–0, and drawing the lone Test. That 2021 Australian home series is the most direct predecessor to the current 2025–26 tour.

Interestingly, when Australia toured India in 2023–24, each format was treated as a separate bilateral series with no unified points table. In hindsight, that decision stripped the tour of the narrative tension that the integrated system naturally generates, reducing the sense of one continuous storyline stretching from the first ball of the first T20I to the last session of the Test.

Men’s cricket has dabbled with this concept too. In 2016, England hosted Sri Lanka and Pakistan in experimental multi-format series using a combined points table, but the idea was never given a sustained run and has since disappeared from the men’s calendar.

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The 2025-26 Australia Tour

The ongoing tour has been a near-perfect advertisement for what a multi-format points system can produce: dramatic momentum swings, format-specific dominance, and the constant possibility of a comeback.

In the T20I leg, India claimed a landmark 2–1 series win, their first T20I series triumph in Australia since 2016. It was Australia’s first bilateral T20I series defeat at home since 2017 and a milestone moment for Indian women’s cricket, giving India a 4-2 points lead after the T20Is.

Australia answered in ruthless fashion in the ODIs. They were hit by injuries - Ellyse Perry and Kim Garth were ruled out with quad strains before the series began, and Sophie Molineux later suffered a back issue, which severely tested their depth. Yet they showed why they have long been the standard-bearers in women’s cricket. In the first ODI, Alyssa Healy’s composed half-century anchored a comprehensive Australian win, leveling the overall points at 4–4.

Australia then took the second ODI at Allan Border Field, with Georgia Voll and Phoebe Litchfield stitching together a fluent 119-run partnership that put India on the back foot. India might have banked the T20I trophy, but Australia powered their way back with a comprehensive 3-0 ODI series win, taking the points tally to 8-4. India still has a chance to level the scores, with the one-off Test yet to be played.

Why the Multi-Format Points System Is a Brilliant Concept

Bilateral cricket’s greatest structural flaw is the dead rubber. In a conventional three-match series, once a team leads 2–0, the third game is effectively meaningless: teams rest key players, crowds thin out, and the competitive intensity fades. A unified points table all but eliminates this problem.

Under the multi-format system, a team that dominates the T20Is cannot afford to treat the ODIs as a chance to experiment too freely, because the overall series is still very much alive. Conversely, a side trailing heavily heading into the Test knows there is still a realistic route to an overall series win, because a four-point Test victory can dramatically alter the standings. Every match carries stakes; every result, even late in a tour, meaningfully shifts the narrative.

There is also a deeper philosophical value at play here. The system honors all three formats equally within the structure of a single narrative. It does not privilege T20Is simply because they generate more immediate commercial revenue, nor does it diminish the Test match as an anachronism.

Instead, the four points available in the Test - double that of any single limited-overs match - acknowledge the primacy and difficulty of the longest format while still keeping it in conversation with its shorter counterparts. The Test is the series finale, the crescendo, the match with the highest stakes.

It is not about choosing one format over another, but about binding them into a single, coherent journey.

The Case for Multi-Format Series in Men’s Cricket

Men's bilateral series are increasingly plagued by relevance fatigue. When Australia visit England for a five-Test Ashes, the narrative largely sustains itself, but when a major team tours a smaller nation for a three-Test series, interest can evaporate once the result is sealed early. There is no context.

A multi-format points structure could transform the very idea of a men’s bilateral tour. If points from Test matches, ODIs, and T20Is all fed into a single series table, every format would carry significant stakes. Teams would need to select genuinely well-rounded squads and think more carefully about workload management. Versatile players capable of contributing across formats would be more valuable than ever, reanimating the idea of the complete touring team.

The 2016 experiment in England, when men’s multi-format points series were trialed against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, was too limited in scope and duration to be a fair test of the model’s long-term appeal. A concept of this nature needs structural commitment to align with players, broadcasters, and audiences. Men’s cricket has an opportunity to learn from a system that women’s cricket has been refining, stress-testing, and proving since 2013.

If this India–Australia tour demonstrates anything, it is that when every match feeds into a single, shared goal, bilateral cricket stops feeling like a series of disconnected obligations and starts to resemble what it should have been all along: one continuous, compelling story.

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Drama Sells But At What Cost To Cricket?

Lakshit Singhal — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 11:38:25 GMT

There was a time when cricket broadcasting felt like a celebration of the sport. The build-up shows, the expert panels, the storytelling around players, and the calm and analytical commentary made every tournament/series feel special. The presentation was objective and more inclusive. Humor was always present but it was respectful to everyone involved.

Today, however, the tone feels drastically different. Instead of building anticipation through cricketing context, the presentation relies on sensationalism. The storytelling feels exaggerated and detached from the subtle beauty and unpredictability that make cricket special. Hype has replaced heritage.

The Choking Narrative - When Rivalry Turns Cringe

One of the most uncomfortable recent campaigns has been the “choking” angle pushed around the India–South Africa Men's T20 WC Super 8 clash. Instead of building the contest around skill, preparation, and strategy, the promotion leaned heavily into mocking South Africa’s past failures, reducing a proud cricketing nation to a meme.

(The Commercial was taken down after the India-South Africa match, which South Africa won comfortably).

Picture Courtesy: Jio Hotstar

Upset Predictions - Disrespect Disguised As Marketing

Perhaps more problematic is the dramatic framing of matches involving associate teams as potential “upsets.” The language and tone often imply that these teams are merely fillers and are present only to create shock value if they somehow challenge a heavyweight.

This framing is deeply unfair to associate nations who fight for funding, visibility, and respect in global tournaments. When campaigns position their competitiveness as a surprise rather than a possibility, it subtly reinforces hierarchy instead of celebrating growth.

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The Bigger Problem

The common thread across the “choking” ad, “300 alerts,” and exaggerated upset narratives is sensationalism. Instead of trusting the sport’s natural drama, promotions are engineered to provoke reactions - outrage, mockery, or viral engagement. Not to forget the pressure it creates on the team and players who take the field.

But cricket has never needed artificial tension. It has always thrived on respect, rivalry, unpredictability, and depth. When marketing forgets that balance, fans notice. And that’s where the disconnect begins.

The Growing Disconnect

During major events organized by the ICC, we increasingly see creators and influencers filming reels in training areas or producing meme-driven interactions with players. While such content may generate quick engagement, it often lacks cricketing depth. The focus shifts from preparation, tactics, and mindset to viral snippets designed for algorithms.

The 2023 Men's ODI WC theme song is a classic example. Instead of weaving clips of iconic World Cup moments, historic rivalries, or even current cricketers in action, the music video centered on popular entertainment personalities and online creators. The result was Dil Jashn Bole feeling more like a social-media campaign than a cricket celebration.

From Legacy Names to Brand Labels

Another subtle but telling shift has been in how bilateral series trophies are branded and named. Traditionally, these trophies carried emotional and historical weight because they honored human excellence.

The winner of the Test series played between India and England in India is awarded the Anthony De Mello Trophy. It is named after Anthony De Mello who was one of the founding members of the BCCI.

For the series played in England, the winner is awarded the Pataudi Trophy, as a tribute to Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, who happens to be the only player who has represented India and England. The Trophy was recently renamed as Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, with a new Pataudi medal of excellence announced to be awarded to the winning captain.

India and South Africa compete for the Gandhi-Mandela Trophy, also called the Freedom Trophy. It was instituted as a tribute to the leaders of both the countries.

The Test series between New Zealand and South Africa is called the Tangiwai Shield, which commemorates the Tangiwai Rail disaster that occurred during the Test match between the two countries in 1953.

There are many more. Australia and West Indies fight for the Frank-Worrell Trophy. Australia and Srilanka go against each other for the Warne-Muralidharan Trophy.

Today, however, many bilateral series are introduced primarily with sponsor prefixes, where the brand takes center stage and the historical or emotional identity of the contest becomes secondary. The graphic reads like an advertisement first and a cricket contest second.

When trophies are named after legends, they preserve memory. They remind fans of past captains, iconic tours, and defining moments. When they are reduced to temporary brand identities, that continuity weakens.

It may seem like a small change, but over time, these shifts contribute to the larger disconnect, where commerce increasingly dominates culture in modern cricket broadcasting and promotion, sometimes at the cost of the game itself. I understand commerce is important for the growth of the game but how helpful it is if it sacrifices quality and integrity.

The Contrast - Pepsi “Change The Game” Campaign

Where modern campaigns sometimes chase virality through shock narratives or influencer-driven content, the Men's ODI World Cup 2011’s promotions trusted the game and its icons.

They didn’t reduce opponents to memes.

They didn’t sideline cricketers for creators.

They didn’t manufacture drama.

They celebrated cricket and that’s why fans connected so deeply with it.

Many of the tournament promos highlighted iconic, signature shots of players and that helped generate excitement before the start of the World Cup:

Virender Sehwag – Upper Cut
MS Dhoni - Helicopter Shot
Tilakaratne Dilshan - Scoop
Harbhajan Singh - Doosra
Kevin Pieterson - Switch Hit
Shakib Al Hasan - Super Scoop

The promos even covered umpires with a dedicated advertisement to highlight Billy Bowden's unique bended finger dismissal (which happens to be because of Arthritis).

What Can We Do Better?

Sports means something. To be humble in both victory and defeat. To treat your opposition with respect. What happens on the field stays there. Not every match or series is about revenge. It necessarily does not have to be about 'BADLA'. Maybe it's time we go back to the basics. To enjoy the game for it's beauty.

Cricket deserves coverage that respects its depth, its history, and the players who make it great and not just campaigns designed for clicks. It ought to be inclusive and objective. Broadcasting popularized the game beyond anyone's imagination. I hope it doesn't become the reason that kills it.

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Review: Eye on Cricket

Lakshit Singhal — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 10:33:41 GMT

Some books carry a personal story for their readers and Eye on Cricket is that book for me. It arrived as a blessing in disguise, introducing me to the vastness and limitlessness of the emotion that cricket is and truly showing why cricket is more than just a game.

I had read cricket books before. Mostly autobiographies and historical works. But the way in which Eye on Cricket puts into perspective various dimensions related to the game captivated my imagination. In his foreward, Gideon Haigh, a celebrated author himself, writes that Samir’s ability to construct a rigorous argument to reach a provocative conclusion makes him enjoy Samir’s work - a sentiment I share.

What is it about?

The book 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. It does not merely dwell on statistics or anecdotes; it speaks directly to the cricket fan within you, recognizing your individuality while acknowledging the shared ways in which we all interact with the game.

Each essay revolves around a subject that most cricket enthusiasts will find familiar. The chapters on childhood cricket, for instance, take you back to your gully or club cricket days, while the discussion on cricket equipment highlights how a shared passion for the game coexisted with the economic realities of different households and the class barriers reflected in who could afford what.

He recalls the pride and satisfaction of scoring his highest runs in a local game and explains why such moments matter:

“ No game, no physical or cultural endeavor, can survive or be sustainable if held afloat only by the efforts of those proficient in it. A game is sustained as a cultural passion by its humble pursuits at lower levels; the cumulative, speculative, physical weight of those aspirants continue to elevate the game.”

These chapters are bound to make you nostalgic.

In another chapter, Samir Chopra expands the horizons of cricket literature by exploring fans’ relationships with numbers. While 99.94, 15,921, 774 or 8,032 may seem random to the uninitiated, they hold deep meaning for cricket fans, just as years like 1932, 1952 and 1971 do for Indian cricket followers.

This is an entirely different dimension of fandom, one with a kind of privileged accessibility. His offbeat look at how fans obsess over numbers makes for a compelling read, and it is fitting that his favourite number is 796.358, the library classification code for cricket books.

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Beyond the Boundary: Ideas and Debates

Philosophy runs through the length of the book. The author offers a thoughtful, often philosophical take on different kinds of fans and their relationship with the game, asking why some leave the stadium before the match ends, or how a player-fan understands and appreciates cricket differently from a regular fan.

These discourses both free your thinking and keep you engaged. Even though the essays are not directly connected, they are neatly grouped into categories, giving us the freedom to read them in any order we prefer.

He also dwells upon topics of popular discourse - aggression and spirit of the game. I appreciate how the author didn’t shy away in sharing his opinion, however controversial they might sound. This is reflected in how Chopra is critical of Dhoni for calling back Ian Bell during a test in 2011 even after being ruled out by the umpire - a decision which earned Dhoni applause but cost India the match.

He also argues that Fire in Babylon suffers from poor storytelling, a view that may divide readers but certainly provokes thought. Some chapters may not appeal to everyone equally, yet they consistently offer a considered and engaging narrative.

One recurring debate in cricket concerns the evolution of formats, and here I am grateful that the author chooses to explain Test cricket in a way that helps the current generation appreciate its uniqueness. He shows how its shifting passages of play give it a distinct identity and reinforce the idea that it is the one format in which all twenty-two players can be significant participants.

In other chapters in this section, we encounter evocative descriptions of the changing look and feel of the game and the thrill of slip catching.

Should You Read Eye on Cricket?

Now coming to why you should get this book. Firstly, it acts as an assurance that you can be divided by boundaries or generations but will always be united by cricket.

Secondly, the writing is endearing and relatable, with barely a dull moment because the author deftly supplements the narrative with engaging trivia and anecdotes.

Finally, there is a chapter devoted specifically to sports writing that I found both informative and inspiring. It encouraged me to be fearless and aspirational as a writer and convinced me that even the most seemingly trivial subject can be meaningfully situated within the larger story of the game.

In the author’s own words, if you cannot stop watching or thinking about cricket, this is a book worth having on your shelf.

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The Day Lord’s Belonged to Vinoo Mankad

Lakshit Singhal — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 09:06:25 GMT

It had been 20 years since India made its Test debut in 1932 but the dream of winning their first match was far from achieved. That wait was finally shattered in the 1951–52 season, when England arrived in India for a five-Test series. The first three matches drifted into draws, and England asserted their dominance in the fourth Test at Kanpur. But it was the final Test at Madras that carved its place into cricketing folklore, as the hosts crushed England by an innings and eight runs to claim their maiden Test win.

At the heart of this triumph stood Mulvantrai Himmatlal “Vinoo” Mankad, a name that would forever be intertwined with Indian cricket’s rise. A cunning and intelligent bowler, Mankad was a master of flight and subtle variation, forever probing the batter’s uncertainty.

In the Madras Test he took 12 wickets, orchestrating England’s downfall almost single-handedly. Over the course of the series, he collected 34 wickets and scored 223 runs, a thunderous all-round performance that confirmed his status as a world-class match-winner. Yet, even as his star blazed brightly, fate was preparing a cruel twist.

Clash with the Board and the Haslingden contract

The next challenge lay in the summer of 1952: a daunting tour of England, the land of India’s former colonizers, and a graveyard for many visiting sides. Given his exploits in the 1951–52 series and his success on the 1946 tour, Mankad’s place in the squad seemed beyond question. Or so he believed. As trial matches for the tour were being held in India, Mankad was already in England, having received a lucrative offer from Haslingden, a club in the Lancashire League.

In such circumstances, Mankad demanded an assurance from the BCCI that he would be guaranteed selection in all tests if he goes on to rescind his contract with the Haslingden. The Board offered no such promise, leaving his request unanswered.

Faced with uncertainty, Mankad signed with Haslingden. The Board and the selection committee were left furious and chose not to include Mankad in the side, decreeing that “India can produce a dozen spinners like him.” Thus began one of the most notorious chapters in the long, uneasy history of player–board conflict in Indian cricket.

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India’s disastrous start to the 1952 tour

On the field, the cost of that decision became painfully clear. Under Vijay Hazare’s captaincy, India walked into the first Test of the 1952 tour without their premier all-rounder. The fearsome new-ball pair of Alec Bedser and Fred Trueman tore through India’s batting, and in the second innings reduced them to an almost unimaginable 0 for 4.

England wrapped up the match with a seven-wicket victory, and the humiliation, compounded by injuries within the squad, forced a rethink. Captain Hazare and team manager Pankaj Gupta reached out to Haslingden, pleading for Mankad’s release for the remainder of the series.

The recall: from Lancashire League to Lord’s

Initially, the club was reluctant to let go of their prized professional. It took the intervention of Sir Herbert Merrett, a Welsh businessman and President of Glamorgan County Cricket Club, to break the deadlock. At his urging, Haslingden eventually agreed to release Mankad. He was drafted into the Indian side for the second Test at Lord’s - reportedly against the wishes of the BCCI, who now had to watch as the player they had spurned returned to the national fold on foreign soil.

“Mankad’s Test”: batting masterclass at the home of cricket

Lord’s, the game’s grandest stage, became Mankad’s personal theatre. In the first innings, he produced a gritty 72, steadying India and hinting at what was to come. In the second innings, he rose to something near mythic: a majestic 184 out of India’s total of 378, batting with a blend of defiance and authority that left spectators in awe.

With the ball, he added a five-wicket haul in the first innings, completing one of the most remarkable all-round performances the ground had ever witnessed. Such was his dominance that the match passed into history as “Mankad’s Test,” a rare instance in world cricket where a game is remembered almost entirely for one cricketer’s performance. For Vinoo Mankad, it was a moment of destiny - he had made his Test debut at the same venue six years earlier and now he owned it.

Yet even this extraordinary display could not alter India’s fate in the series. Despite Mankad’s heroics, India lost the Lord’s Test and eventually the series as well. He returned to Haslingden and continued to excel, his value to the club undiminished. But the scars of his treatment by his own Board ran deep; the lack of faith and respect from cricket’s powerbrokers left him disheartened and demoralized.

Still, Mankad refused to let bitterness define him. He continued to serve India with distinction in the years that followed, crafting a legacy that would outlast administrators and controversies alike.

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Touch of Fortune: Sobers, Gavaskar, and the Superstition Behind a Historic Series

Lakshit Singhal — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 04:30:20 GMT

India’s tour of the West Indies in 1971 is a landmark event for more reasons than one. While India scripted their maiden test series victory in the Caribbean, a young and dynamic Sunil Gavaskar amassed 774 runs, a record for the most runs scored by a batter in their debut series, which stands unbroken till date. It is no exaggeration to say that luck wrapped itself around Gavaskar like a protective cloak on that fateful tour, one that would anoint him as India’s premier batsman for years to come.

Having missed the first Test because of a painful whitlow, Gavaskar finally walked into international cricket in the second Test at Port of Spain. On 12, attempting an elegant drive, he offered a chance that West Indies captain Garfield Sobers put down.

From that reprieve, Gavaskar crafted a fluent 65. This was one of the many field lapses by the home team that aided Gavaskar in his dream run. He followed that first knock with another composed half-century in the second innings, as if he had always belonged on that stage.

By the third Test, Gavaskar was dismantling the West Indian attack with unnerving composure. Yet even he was not immune to nerves, and at one tense moment he popped up a simple catch off Jack Noreiga.

Only a last-minute field change saved him. Had the fielder not been moved just before that delivery, Gavaskar’s story that day might have ended in despair instead of glory. Buoyed by that stroke of fortune, the Little Master marched on to his maiden Test century.

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Garfield Sobers had a cherished ritual of greeting opposition players before a match, and he frequently wandered into the Indian dressing room. Struggling through a lean patch, the great man one day walked up to Gavaskar and in a seemingly casual gesture, laid a hand on him, as though hoping to siphon off a little of the young opener’s charmed fortune. As fate would have it, the magic worked as Sobers ended up scoring three consecutive centuries.

India entered the final Test 1–0 up, the series poised for a dramatic climax. The West Indies needed 262 runs on the last day to win the Test and square the series, a target that seemed well within reach for a line‑up led by Sobers. As was his habit, the West Indies captain set off on his pre‑match tour of the Indian dressing room, ready to exchange pleasantries and perhaps brush shoulders with fortune once more.

But this time, Ajit Wadekar, India’s shrewd and superstitious captain, had other ideas. Fearing that another touch of Gavaskar might gift Sobers yet more runs, he locked his star opener in the washroom, determined that the West Indies giant would not lay a finger on him that morning.

Gavaskar protested as he had to pad up but Wadekar was adamant. Sobers could not meet Gavaskar that morning in the dressing room. Call it miracle, mind game, or mere superstition, but what followed has passed into folklore. Sobers strode out to begin the chase and was dismissed first ball for a duck by Abid Ali, the great champion cut down in an instant.

Wadekar’s gamble had paid off, and with Sobers gone, India surged towards a historic triumph. As the final West Indian wicket fell and India sealed the series, an entire nation exulted, not just in a victory overseas, but in a story where luck, belief, and nerve had intertwined to script history.

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