Bose바카라s wide canvas of limited depth is at its best when he roams Indian cricket바카라s delicious suburbs, not in its audacious socio-historical claims
Alexander Pope, the 17thcentury English poet, has written about the tedium of the twice-told tale. Mihir Bose바카라s second book on the history of Indian cricket is a journalist바카라s rather than a historian바카라s take on the eight decades from C K Nayudu to Virat Kohli. It has allowed him a greater latitude in dealing with the rumours and innuendos that have accompanied the game 바카라 and recording these without the pressure of having to ensure historical accuracy.
Did Tiger Pataudi바카라s mother really write to Prime Minister Nehru asking that her son ought to be made captain ahead of Chandu Borde because he 바카라belonged to a minority community바카라? Did Vijay Merchant really call the Kathiawar captain and ask him to concede the match, thus denying the Maharashtra batsman B B Nimbalkar, then batting on 443 a chance to overtake Don Bradman바카라s world record of 452? Bose tells us these stories in a spirt of take-it-or-leave-it. To authenticate is the reader바카라s responsibility.
The lite version of Bose바카라s earlier tome is chattier, gossipy, anecdotal and joins the dots in a slightly different way, although the narrative is chronological and repeats some stories. The author who worked for UK바카라s Sunday Timesand Daily Telegraphwas also BBC바카라s first sports editor.
Yet the achievement he seems to place above all is the fact that he 바카라went to school in Mumbai with Sunil Gavaskar.바카라 In chapter two, he talks of his 바카라Jesuit school in Mumbai, also the school of Sunil Gavaskar바카라. On page 99 is the reminder, 바카라In my Jesuit school, which as I have mentioned is also Gavaskar바카라s바카라바카라 On page 128, he says, 바카라I knew him better than most, for as I have mentioned, I was at school with Gavaskar in St Xavier바카라s, in Mumbai바카라. A few pages later, talking of the Tendulkar-Kambli schools record, he says it was made against St Xavier바카라s, 바카라Gavaskar바카라s and my old school.바카라 Bose also tells us more than once that Sourav Ganguly always addressed him respectfully as 바카라Mihir-da바카라. His editors have been unkind to him in other ways too.
The first Parsee tour of England was in 1886, not in 1866. Sunil Gavaskar바카라s farewell match (and century) at Lord바카라s was in 1987, not 1986. Sachin Tendulkar was trying to score his 100thinternational century, not Test century. Both Roger Binny and his son Stuart have played Tests for India, but they are not the only Anglo-Indians to have done so. David Johnson played two Tests too. Gavaskar is not the fourth Indian to have been in Wisden바카라s Five Cricketers. If C K Nayudu is taken as the first, he is the fifth. It was not just in 바카라those days바카라 (when Nayudu was honoured) that it was only a one-time honour. It is that way these days too.
Mostly Bose meshes well the personal and the historical, and the fact that he has been following Indian cricket for over six decades grants him an easy familiarity with the dramatis personae. He watched his first Test as a five-year old from the terrace of a house overlooking the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. It was symbolic of the manner in which he has been viewing Indian cricket ever since 바카라 from a heightened perspective which brought into his line of vision elements beyond the game itself.
Yet Bengalureans might object to his characterising their city as an 바카라outpost of cricket바카라 where Rahul Dravid grew up. Only Mumbai have won the Ranji Trophy more often than Karnataka, and players from V Subramanya, Erapalli Prassana, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar and Gundappa Viswanath to Kirmani and Dravid and Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath and K L Rahul will all have something to say about that statement.
Dramatic statements have been a Bose staple. In his previous book, he theorised that India produced quality left handers because of their manner of cleaning themselves in the toilet with their left hand. Had Subhas Chandra Bose rather than Jawaharlal Nehru been the first Prime Minister, he said, football, not cricket, would have been India바카라s main sport. Here he compares coach Greg Chappell바카라s dissing of skipper Ganguly to 바카라the political assassination of Subhas Bose by Mahatma Gandhi in the 1930s.바카라
Perhaps the canvas was too large and the palette deliberately limited. More has happened in Indian cricket in the last thirty years (since Tendulkar made his debut) than in the half century and more before. To combine the two eras in one volume is a challenge, however easy the writing style and however fascinating the narration. For in that period the centre of world cricket has shifted to India. The money is here, the players are here, the fans are here, and the richest tournament, the IPL, is here.
Bose바카라s offering necessarily favours width over depth, and while it is a good introduction, it leaves the reader wanting more.
(Suresh Menon is editor, Wisden India Almanack)