Pundits From Pakistan
Encyclopedia
Pundits From Pakistan is a book on cricket
by Rahul Bhattacharya. It covers the Indian cricket team’s tour of Pakistan
in the year 2004. While the book is largely about cricket, it also tells of how the tour had an impact that went far beyond sub-continental
cricket in terms of the goodwill and sense of bonhomie it created between the people of the two countries, thereby encouraging peaceful relations.
Published in 2005, it was Rahul Bhattacharya’s first book, and received wide appreciation within cricketing circles. He covered this tour for the Guardian
and Wisden
.
.
The book progresses with the tour, providing detailed accounts of the matches and recounting the journeys and off-field encounters. It is illustrated with a number of colour photographs from the tour. The scorecards of all the matches played as well as the statistical records related to the tour are given at the end of the book. It includes a conversation with Intikhab Alam
, the former Pakistani cricket captain, and interviews with Danish Kaneria
, the Pakistani leg spinner, Sabih Azhar, Shoaib Akhtar’s
first coach, Aaqib Javed
, the former Pakistani fast bowler, Andy Atkinson, the English pitch consultant who had been hired by the Pakistan Cricket Board
, Abdul Qadir
, the former Pakistani leg spinner, and Sourav Ganguly
, the Indian captain on the tour.
The book briefly traces the cricketing relations between India and Pakistan over the years through Bhattacharya’s conversations with cricketers, officials, and fellow journalists. It also alludes to politics and the historical relations between the two countries. Bhattacharya provides numerous accounts of Pakistani hospitality, narrating how taxi drivers and shopkeepers refused to charge fans that had come over from India. Peppered with deep insights and cricketing trivia, it is partly in the form of a travelogue and provides a fascinating account of contemporary Pakistan.
. It was selected among the top ten books published about the sport of cricket in the year 2005 by the staff at Cricinfo
.
wrote of the book in Wisden Asia Cricket
:
Marcus Berkmann
wrote of the book in The Wisden Cricketer
:
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
by Rahul Bhattacharya. It covers the Indian cricket team’s tour of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
in the year 2004. While the book is largely about cricket, it also tells of how the tour had an impact that went far beyond sub-continental
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent, also Indian Subcontinent, Indo-Pak Subcontinent or South Asian Subcontinent is a region of the Asian continent on the Indian tectonic plate from the Hindu Kush or Hindu Koh, Himalayas and including the Kuen Lun and Karakoram ranges, forming a land mass which extends...
cricket in terms of the goodwill and sense of bonhomie it created between the people of the two countries, thereby encouraging peaceful relations.
Published in 2005, it was Rahul Bhattacharya’s first book, and received wide appreciation within cricketing circles. He covered this tour for the Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
and Wisden
Wisden
The Wisden Group was a group of companies formed by John Wisden & Co Ltd, publishers of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. As well as John Wisden & Co, the group included the The Wisden Cricketer magazine, Cricinfo – the world's highest traffic cricket website – and the Hawk-Eye computerised...
.
Overview
India’s last full tour of Pakistan had been in late 1989, although the Indians had visited for three one-day matches in 1997. Pakistan had toured India in 1999, before sporting ties were severed by India because of growing political hostility. The tour of Pakistan in 2004 was a part of the ongoing peace process between the governments of the countries. The itinerary included seven One Day Internationals and three TestsTest cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
.
The book progresses with the tour, providing detailed accounts of the matches and recounting the journeys and off-field encounters. It is illustrated with a number of colour photographs from the tour. The scorecards of all the matches played as well as the statistical records related to the tour are given at the end of the book. It includes a conversation with Intikhab Alam
Intikhab Alam
Intikhab Alam Khan is a retired Pakistani cricketer who played in 47 Tests and 4 ODIs from 1959 to 1977. He also played in English county cricket for Surrey between 1969 and 1981....
, the former Pakistani cricket captain, and interviews with Danish Kaneria
Danish Kaneria
Danish Prabha Shanker Kaneria is a Pakistani cricketer . Danish Kaneria has continued the tradition of great Pakistani leg spin bowlers and possesses a very well disguised googly...
, the Pakistani leg spinner, Sabih Azhar, Shoaib Akhtar’s
Shoaib Akhtar
Shoaib Akhtar is a former Pakistani right arm fast bowler in cricket, who is regarded as the fastest bowler in the history of cricket. He set an official world record by achieving the fastest delivery, when he clocked in at 161.3 km/h in his bowling speed, twice at a cricket match against...
first coach, Aaqib Javed
Aaqib Javed
Aaqib Javed is a Pakistani cricketer and coach. He was a right-handed medium-fast pace bowler with the ability to swing the ball both ways. He played 22 Tests and 163 One Day Internationals for Pakistan between 1988 and 1998.He was educated at Islamia College Lahore.Aaqib's best performances in...
, the former Pakistani fast bowler, Andy Atkinson, the English pitch consultant who had been hired by the Pakistan Cricket Board
Pakistan Cricket Board
The Pakistan Cricket Board is a sporting organization that is responsible for governing all professional cricket including Test cricket and One Day International matches played in Pakistan...
, Abdul Qadir
Abdul Qadir (cricketer)
Abdul Qadir Khan is a former Pakistani international cricketer, later commentator and was recently the Chief Selector of Pakistan Cricket Board. He resigned from the post because of his differences with the top brass of Pakistan cricket board...
, the former Pakistani leg spinner, and Sourav Ganguly
Sourav Ganguly
Sourav Chandidas Ganguly is a former Indian cricketer, and captain of the Indian national team. Born into an affluent family, Ganguly was introduced into the world of cricket by his elder brother Snehasish. He is regarded as one of India's most successful captains in modern times. He started his...
, the Indian captain on the tour.
The book briefly traces the cricketing relations between India and Pakistan over the years through Bhattacharya’s conversations with cricketers, officials, and fellow journalists. It also alludes to politics and the historical relations between the two countries. Bhattacharya provides numerous accounts of Pakistani hospitality, narrating how taxi drivers and shopkeepers refused to charge fans that had come over from India. Peppered with deep insights and cricketing trivia, it is partly in the form of a travelogue and provides a fascinating account of contemporary Pakistan.
Popular success
Pundits From Pakistan won the 2005 Vodafone Crossword Book AwardVodafone Crossword Book Award
Vodafone Crossword Book Award is an Indian book award sponsored by Vodafone and Crossword Bookstores. It is India's biggest private sector award. The Award was instituted in 1998 with the intention of competing with The Booker Prize, Commonwealth Writers' Prize or The Pulitzer Prize.The award...
. It was selected among the top ten books published about the sport of cricket in the year 2005 by the staff at Cricinfo
Cricinfo
ESPNcricinfo is believed to be the largest cricket-related website on the World Wide Web. Content includes news,articles, live scorecards,live text commentary and a comprehensive and searchable database called 'StatsGuru', of historical matches and players from the 18th century to the present...
.
Reviews
Mike MarquseeMike Marqusee
Mike Marqusee is an American-born writer, journalist and political activist in London. His partner is the barrister Liz Davies.Marqusee, who describes himself as a "deracinated New York Marxist Jew" has lived in Britain since 1971...
wrote of the book in Wisden Asia Cricket
Wisden Asia Cricket
Wisden Asia Cricket was a monthly English language cricket magazine produced by the British based cricket publishing company Wisden. It is a sister publication to the British focused The Wisden Cricketer...
:
Marcus Berkmann
Marcus Berkmann
-Life:Educated at Highgate School and Worcester College, Oxford, he began his career as a freelance journalist, contributing to computer and gaming magazines...
wrote of the book in The Wisden Cricketer
The Wisden Cricketer
The Wisden Cricketer is the world's best-selling monthly cricket magazine.It was created in 2003 by a merger between The Cricketer magazine and Wisden Cricket Monthly....
:
Contents
- Prologue
- 1. Dawat
- 2. The longest day
- 3. The Express is in town!
- 4. There’s grass on them thar’ frontier
- 5. Blue fading into green
- 6. A nation went potty
- 7. Kaunsa top spinner?
- 8. Champagne
- 9. Safar
- Acknowledgements
- Illustrations
- Scorecards & Statistics
- Index