The Great Tamasha - James Astill

The author documents the growth of India with development of Cricket. The books starts with history of Indian cricket and it's origin. Most of these information I knew through Ramachandra Guha's " A Corner of a Foreign Field". This author gives more credit to Lord Harris than Guha for the development of Cricket in India. I knew most of the information in the early chapters so it was a easy and quick read. But I can not blame author for this because many readers may not know the Indian cricket history.

Though the story is repetitive it did not bored me, in fact I devoured the information about Palwankar brothers, Ranjitsinhji and Duleepsinhji (both played for England), the heroic innings by CK Nayudu against visiting MCC. Then the exploits of the spin quartet - Bedi, Prasana, Venkatraghavan and Chandreskehar - wonderful read. The author also watches India Vs Pakistan match to get the real feeling of the public and of course, the politics played out behind it. The story of Nawab Pataudi was very interesting.

The author explains how the Indian public moved from melodic dramas to the shorter format of the game in quick time by the advent of satellite television and the middle class growth. All these shorter format worshipping started in 1983 when India won the world cup beating the mighty West Indies.The arrival of  T20 format changed everything in India. The book also highlights the caste difference in the sport.

The best explanation for India’s shortage of fast bowlers is not religious or physiological: India has 30 million Punjabis of its own and an awful lot of tall people. It is cultural. India’s biggest cricketing heroes have been batsmen, from Nayudu to Gavaskar and Tendulkar. Some see in this a continuation of the old British snobbery favouring gentleman-batsmen over working-class bowlers.

Through the  story of Cheteswar Pujara  the author highlights the aristocratic nature of the national and state cricket boards. The relationship between Pujara and his father was beautiful and the author did a wonderful job in telling this story. Another interesting read chapter is about India , Pakistan matches. Another highlight in the book is the role of religion (and questioning of patriotism) in cricket, specially in regards to India and Pakistan matches. The story of Azar and Irfan Pathan was a good example. The story of Pawar and his power play was well known to Indian Cricket fans , the author used this story to the full extend.

The book is written easy style and language, starts slowly and ends with a blast i.e IPL scams etc.The book is a  kind of study of power, wealth and corruption in India. India turned once an English summer game into a multi-billion dollar entertainment industry. The author wonderfully explains the role played by Lalit Modi in the creation of IPL and his life after the scandals. At one point the author highlights the lack of interest for Cricket in IPL in parts of India.

Another good book about Indian Cricket.