In 2013, during his visit to the Jaipur Lit Fest, Rahul Dravid made an observation, when he stated that not many of the cricketers in the Indian team were avid book readers, partly because they weren’t too keen about it and partly because there weren’t at the time collections that were appealing enough.
But there could be a book, which at this time when the Corona Virus has enveloped the world and how, the players could get themselves to read.
Pundits From Pakistan, written by Rahul Bhattacharya, is a tale not just about India’s victorious tour to Pakistan in 2004, it is also about how a nation kept it’s apprehensions aside and warmly accepted just over a dozen players and its fans as well from across the border into their country and dare I say, into their hearts.
Cricket books in recent times have tended to be a journey into nostalgia, which begin well, but then become more of match reports than revealing information which the public did not know before.
In that sense, Pundits… is different. When other books reveal statistics, this book reveals journeys preceding the matches and anecdotes in them as well.
For instance, when the writer visits Rawalpindi before the second ODI of the series, he finds time to meet the coach who saw the development of the city’s favourite bowler- Shoaib Akhtar to find out how he became who he became.
Or when he was in Karachi, how he and a few other journalists went to find out about the fascinating life of Danish Kaneria- only the second Hindu to represent the Green and Gold in international cricket and how he and his family remain committed to supporting Pakistan despite not being part of the mass community of public.
Bhattacharya encapsulates in his book a general sense of the public he encountered in the country. From hotels where Indian movie awards were being shown to the layman being a fan of Amitabh Bachchan, the writer brings out a side to the public which is relatable to those on the other side of the border.
There are also delicious conversations with players who have tormented Indians over the years- the one with Aaqib Javed being my favourite, where he throws light on Pakistan’s conveyor belt of fast bowlers and why he and his team dominated the India-Pakistan rivalry in the 1990s.
The description of the matches on the tour don’t feel as much as reports but they tend to focus more on the protagonists who played the central role in the respective contests.
Like the way the writer describes Dravid during his mammoth innings of 270 runs in Rawalpindi or the way Sachin Tendulkar batted in his knock of 141 in the ODI played at the same venue or how Inzamam-Ul-Haq shone for the hosts in the ODIs, taking both the pacers and the spinners equally to the task.
Therein lies the essence of the book: in its description of events with depth, with meaning, with analysis. It makes you relive the moments once again, but with a bit more meat to it.
Why you should read it? It is because Pundits… is more than just a cricket book with statistics, it is a travelogue which talks about Pakistan, through the eyes of its people, through the eyes of the crowd at venues, through eminent cricketers and through its simplicity.
There is a lot to admire about how Bhattacharya describes events- both cricketing and non-cricketing- and towards the end, the writing makes you feel envious.
Do grab a copy today and let the magnificence sink you in!
