"The States of Indian Cricket" is a book written by Ramachandra Guha. I recently bought this one by exchanging a few coupons in landmark. This book is divided into two parts
- Wickets in the East
- Spin and other Turns
I have managed to read the first part of the book. Here Guha deals with various domestic teams of Indian cricket listing his all-time teams to represent them. The books focuses on many old-timers starting from Ranjitsingji, CK Nayudu, Vinoo Mankad, etc. Guha is settled in the state of Karnataka and shows his open appreciation for the players from here. Being a follower of the game of cricket and a big time fan of it, i loved to read about the tales of some of the all time great cricketers of India. The book also talks about the major cricketing tournaments which were being played then like the Pentangular tournament - now banned, was contested by Hindus, Muslims, Parsis, Rest, ...
While telling about the state teams Guha talks about the tough luck of the players from Bengal - the lack of opportunity given to them. He compares the changes in cricket with that of politics of that time, like Subhash Chandra Bose being sacked from the Congress presidentship etc..This thing however cannot be said about the current crisis in the Indian cricket team over Ganguly's issue. Ganguly had been a great captain but, in his current form he should make way for Dravid, a humble cricketer and a consistent performer. He has justified this with a fantastic win over Srilanka today. I hope the good form of Sachin and Dravid continues...
Being a crazy cricket fan, this book has been worth a buy. Being mostly jobless till 9th, I hope to finish reading the second part of the book.
