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Onmanorama Staff
Published: January 06 , 2025 10:14 AM IST
7 minute Read
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As a child growing up in the 1970s, the only books on cricket that one had access to were those devoted to detailing the happenings on the field in Test series’ played by India. The national side’s victory over West Indies and England in 1971 spawned a genre of books penned by journalists who covered the matches for various publications.
As there was no live telecast of matches, these books became instant hits as they provided readers who did not have access to the stadiums with a bird’s eye view of the action that took place in the field of play. It also helped that, during this period, sports reporters and cricketers shared a healthy relationship based on mutual trust and respect, which gave the former access to the dressing rooms and hotels where the latter stayed. Hence, the authors could also include in these books accounts of some of the events that took place outside the playing arena that impacted the result of the matches.
The late 1970s saw a spurt in sports journalism, with three weekly English publications emerging in the country. Many such magazines also sprang up in the local languages. Though they were devoted to covering all disciplines of sports, their main clientele were followers of cricket, the most popular sport. TV sets became an integral part of middle-class households in the country from the early part of the 1980s onwards following the decision of the Union Government to start colour telecast, as opposed to black and white, which was in vogue till then, and the setting up of transmission networks across the country. The surge in popularity of cricket following the victory in the 1983 World Cup prompted Doordarshan to start live telecast of all international matches played within the country. This, in turn, helped millions of followers of the game to watch and follow the action on the ground.
Live broadcasts had a direct impact on print journalism as the followers no longer needed the reporter’s intermediary to learn about the happenings in the field. Further, cricketers themselves evolved into iconic characters whose habits, pastimes, and personal lives became a matter of heated discussion across the country. Even those not interested in the game per se started following the cricketers solely because of the glamour quotient on offer. Many players capitalised on this by penning columns and writing books about the game and themselves. This led to a gradual fall in the readership of sports magazines; many folded up, leaving only a few in circulation.
Live broadcasts had a direct impact on print journalism as the followers no longer needed the reporter’s intermediary to learn about the happenings in the field.
The advent of private telecasters into the arena heralded the age of round-the-year cricket, as most cricket boards had to meet the target of providing a minimum number of playing days. With more matches to be viewed, followers of the game had little time or need to follow the sport through the written word. This led to a change in the approach of reporters who covered the matches, with articles about the game becoming more concise and brief. There was no need to delve into the beauty of a cover drive, explain the movement of a delivery after pitching, or analyse the logic behind bowling changes and field placements as the expert commentators described these to viewers who watched the game on TV.
The nature of authors who penned books on cricket changed during this period with the arrival of historians and sociologists like Ramachandra Guha and Mihir Bose, who gave a new perspective on the game and the players. These writers had played cricket during their school/ college days and were madly in love with the game. This helped them to forge connections between their main line of work and the sport, which were singular, interesting, and unique. They watched the game from the galleries rather than from within the confines of the press box, which lent their writings a different flavour. The deep insights they gained into the sport and its practitioners were reflected in their works, making them engrossing, captivating and fascinating.
It was Rahul Bhattacharya who showed the world that reporters had not lost their skill to write incisive accounts about cricket tours they covered. His book “Pundits from Pakistan”, which details India’s tour to Pakistan in 2004, is a classic and must-read not only for cricket lovers but even for those keen to understand Pakistan’s life and social fabric.
Bhattacharya traced the history of cricket relations between India and Pakistan through interviews and interactions with former players and other personages connected with the game in that country. He used his travels within Pakistan to understand the country and its people better, and this was reflected in his writing. The fact that this was a fiercely contested series, which India managed to win by a narrow margin, worked in favour of the author as the book quickly found its way to the bestseller list.
It has taken close to two decades for another journalist to follow in the footsteps of Bhattacharya and bring out a similar book on cricket. Aditya Iyer, whose portfolio as a journalist includes writing about cricket besides doing travel and human interest stories, covered the 2023 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup for his publication. He had the good fortune of watching all the eleven games played by India, which took place in various parts of the country. And he used the experiences gained while covering this championship to pen the eminently readable book “Gully Gully”.
Followers of the game will remember this championship as the one where India steamrolled over all their opponents during the first 10 matches – league phase and semifinal- before tumbling at the final post, where they lost to Australia. It was the first time India hosted the championship alone, and the national side started as the favourite to lift the trophy. When the team went from strength to strength, vanquishing all opponents with ease, expectations rose sky-high, and hope turned to belief. But, Australia chose to play spoilsport and denied the nation a win that they were looking forward to eagerly.
Iyer followed the national side right from the first match at Chennai, which incidentally was played against the Australians, to the finals, which were played against the same team, held at the mammoth Narendra Modi Stadium at Ahmedabad. He visited all the cities the team played in. He found time to meet and interact with persons connected with the game in various capacities, such as former players, administrators, commentators, presenters, academics etc. He met Sourav Ganguly, former captain of the national side, Kedar Chavan, a former international player, Rishi Dhawan, the only cricketer from Himachal Pradesh to don Indian colours, Rajkumar Sharma, the first coach of Virat Kohli, Ravikant Shukla, captain of India junior side in 2006, Mayanti Langer, television presenter, Freddy DeVitres, one of the first television commentators in India and Chinmay Tambe, a promising young cricketer who turned to academics when his cricketing dreams failed to take off.
Iyer’s accounts of these meetings and the information provided by these persons make excellent reading. They also offer a deep insight into the country’s cricket ecosystem’s functioning. Besides this, they give the readers valuable nuggets of information as to how some of them managed to carve out a space for themselves while others were forced to leave the game for better career options.
My favourite amongst these is the interaction with DeVitres, which is essentially the story of a cricket fanatic who managed to find his way to the commentary box while still in school but was finally forced to leave this career when the private sector took over the game’s telecast.
The author also does an excellent job of detailing the atmosphere on the grounds where the matches took place, the exchanges in the press conferences before and after the games and the behaviour of the crowds. There are some interesting anecdotes about the watering holes in the various cities and the travails of locating a liquor supplier in a dry state. The only place where the narrative drags a bit is while describing the action on the field, which looks like a rushed job. The book is written in simple and easy-to-understand language and bound to keep the reader hooked from the first page to the last.
“Gully Gully” brings alive the excitement that rocked the country during the 40-day period when the World Cup championship was held in India in 2023. This work deserves a place in the libraries of all cricket fans.
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