When I was Asked To Review A Book on Cricket!

It was on a cold December morning that I read an email asking me if I would like to review a book on Cricket. Coming from an editor who takes her work very seriously, this gave me a pause.  I couldn’t help but wonder why she would ask me, of all people, to review a book on sports! I am not much of a sports fan. I have never written on sports before. Fiction, yes, parenting, oh, yes; general book reviews, definitely yes! But sports? And that too, Cricket?

Growing up, I’d always seen my dad scold my brother for ‘wasting his time’ watching ball-by-ball play of one-day matches when he would watch cricket instead of studying for his exams. I remember hiding the remote from my brother just so I could watch HBO and not let him watch cricket. But of course, marriage, as we all know, is a game changer. After I was married, I was introduced to the world of cricket. No, my husband isn’t a big cricket fan or anything, he doesn’t watch ball-by-ball matches either, but he does watch the ‘matches that matter,’ as he puts it. And it was with him that I began to enjoy the T-20 matches – and l also found that I liked some cricketers (no, not for their game or anything, but because I liked what they are, as people, in their general lives.)  

So, coming back to the question of reviewing a book on cricket, I was sceptical. And not in the least because it was the end of the year, the school was closing soon, and as a rule, I do not take up any work during school holidays if I can help it. I also had guests at home; and the house, as my mind space, was crowded, noisy, and completely chaotic. At a time like that, agreeing to take up a book for review – any book – was really out of the question. And here I was, being offered a book on cricket!  

But I agreed. And today, having reviewed  FreeHit for Women’s Web, I want to thank the editor for getting me to do this! Because this book gave me a completely different perspective and taught me a lot! Not merely about cricket, but about life in general. For one, this inspiring book, is not merely on cricket, it is on women’s cricket. And that is very different from the usual cricket that we are used to seeing and enjoying on TV. But apart from that, this book is also a familiar tale. A tale we have often heard, of gender-bias, and complete apathy and lack of confidence towards the feminine gender. And it is a sheer joy to see the women emerging winners in the end.

Just so you get an idea of the feelings this book left me with, let me leave you with a few lines of my review on Women’s Web: “Do You Know That Indian Women’s Cricket Began As ‘Kanyaon Ki Cricket?”:

“There is no doubt that women’s cricket has met with gender-based challenges like lack of sponsorship, and the utter apathy of the administrators of the game, in our country. But no matter how much negativity surrounds them, the India women’s team is ready to scale newer heights!
After all, the truth, as Suprita Das says in the book, is: “India’s women cricketers have beaten all odds to make it this far. To send them back to the dressing room now, is going to be impossible.””