The Cricket World Cup fever is rising. Former stars are being celebrated in the media and the newer ones busy in preparing for the big event in the sub-continent. There is no escaping cricket – be it on TV or in print, be it in drawing rooms or school campuses. Yes, the air is thick with conversation on World Cup – and the teams chances of laying their hands on the coveted trophy.
Cricketing Cultures in Conflict. This is the title of a an anthology published by Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group) in 2004, the year following the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 in South Africa. The editors, Boria Majumdar and JA Mangan, invited me to contribute an article. Click on the photo of the book’s cover page to read a PDF version of my piece.
As challenges come, this was patently unfair but one that I was lured to attempt. Outlook Lounge asked me to write brief notes on one cricket from each of the 14 teams taking in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, beginning on February 19. Now, cricket is a team sport and it is not right to pick one player ahead of all else in each team but this is the mad season and I plunged headlong into the task, identifying the 14 players who I believe will make the biggest difference to his side’s campaign
You do not have to strain your ears to hear the continuing buzz on 23-year-old Piyush Chawla and his selection in the Indian team for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. After he spent more than two years in the sidelines when others like Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha travelled with India’s Test and one-day international teams, the 23-year-old who answers to the call of Paras after the fabled stone that is reputed to turn all metal it touches to gold was picked ostensibly because captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni sought to have variety in the bowling attack.
I told myself to read To The Point with a very open mind. I was determined not to have any expectations. Especially, expectations that would be based on the news reports that surfaced in the wake of the launch of the book in South Africa earlier this year. These had focussed on some of his less than complimentary revelations about the South African team. I also convinced myself that since not all cricketers who write about their experiences answer to the name of Steve Waugh, I should not expect a rival for his heavy and interesting autobiography Out of My Comfort Zone.
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