Cricket Country The Untold History of the First all India Team

WISDEN INDIA BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019WINNER OF SPORTS BOOK AWARD OF THE YEAR AT EKAMRA SPORTS LITERATURE FESTIVAL 2019On the morning of 6 May 1911 a large crowd gathered at Bombay's Ballard Pier. They were there to bid farewell to a motley group of sixteen Indian men who were about to undertake a historic voyage to London. The persons whom the crowd cheered that sultry Saturday morning were members of the first All-India cricket team.Conceived by an unlikely coalition of imperial and Indian elites it took twelve years and three failed attempts before an 'Indian' cricket team made its debut on the playing fields of imperial Britain in the blazing coronation summer of 1911.This is a capacious tale with an improbable cast of characters set against the backdrop of revolutionary protest and princely intrigue. The captain of the Indian team was nineteen-year-old Bhupinder Singh the embattled Maharaja of Patiala. The other cricketers were selected on the basis of their religious identity. Most remarkable for the day was the presence in the side of two Dalits the Palwankar brothers Baloo and Shivram. Drawing on an unparalleled range of original archival sources Cricket Country is the untold story of how the idea of India was fashioned on the cricket pitch in the high noon of empire. Review Cricket Country is easily the most enjoyable non-fiction book you'll read this year -- Mukul KesavanThis magnificent book recreates the forgotten story of the first All-India cricket team. It is a fascinating tale and Prashant Kidambi tells it beautifully. Scholars students history and sports buffs will find readingCricket Country an enormously educative as well as a hugely enjoyable experience. I certainly did -- Ramachandra GuhaPrashant Kidambi takes us back to where it all began with a wonderful narrative of a pioneering team that came to embody a nascent idea of India where the embrace of cultural diversity would become a badge of identity -- Rajdeep Sardesai'Cricket Country The Untold History of the First All-India (Cricket) Team which toured England in 1911 is a narrative of the game's controversial conflicting and contradictory relationship with colonialism nationalism communalism commercialism and caste/class differences.'Outlook'Prashant Kidambi's book Cricket Country is an important contribution to furthering that realisation towards reminding us that this strange sport we find so mesmerising was never contained within the confines of cricket fields . . . As you get pulled into the book there is melodrama rioting political manoeuvring and sneering condescension in a tight partnership with nauseating sycophancy drunkenness sporting skulduggery and back-stabbing.'India Today'Every Indian is an expert in cricket. But few Indians are historians of cricket. With this delightful book Prashant Kidambi joins a select group of cricket historians led by the redoubtable Ramachandra Guha. This heavily researched and stylishly written book is like a blend of Sunil Gavaskar's technical excellence and Gundappa Viswanath's artistry.'Tribune'Cricket Country is as much about the country as it is about cricket. It is a book of history that uses cricket as a framing device . . . It tells the story of a nation its consciousness and awakening through the prism of cricket.'Mint'Kidambi's research is deep and extensive. There are wonderful stories of many . .Cricket Country tells that riveting story with passion and authority.' -- Suresh Menon'[Prashant Kidambi] offers a brilliant insight into the early efforts of Indian and British elite to stitch together an 'Indian' cricket team.'DAWN'Kidambi tells an intriguing story exceptionally well.'The Hindu'Prashant Kidambi tells the intriguing story of the first All-India and largely forgotten team to reach British shores . . . [his] achievement is to retrieve from obscurity the backbone of the team.'