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12 best books on Indian cricket

A carefully considered selection of books on Indian cricket, from the pathbreaking Stray Thoughts on Indian Cricket (1905) by J.M. Framjee Patel to A Corner of a Foreign Field: The Indian History of a British Sport (2003), by Ramachandra Guha.

July 01, 2023 / 09:27 IST
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In Runs ’n’ Ruins (1984), Sunil Gavaskar recounts tournaments post the team's 1983 World Cup victory. (Photo via Twitter/@Subhash_102)

As with any such selection, this shortlist of books reflects my opinion. The books are not ranked but listed in the chronological order of publication, and restricted to one per author.

1. Stray Thoughts on Indian Cricket (1905), J.M. Framjee Patel

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While Framjee Patel was not the first to write a book on Indian cricket, his predecessors focused mostly on the Parsees, the first from the country to take up the sport. Stray Thoughts was the first book that, while focusing on the Parsees, looked beyond them to look at all-India cricket. Perhaps it helped that the author was a firm believer in a unified national team. The last chapter, Cricket as an Imperial Factor, may come across as jarring in 2023, but as a treasure trove of historical information, the entire book has few parallels.

2. Cricket Delightful: Mushtaq Ali’s Own Story (1967), Mushtaq Ali