I got to know of this book through an article from Sharda Ugra titled "Batwallahs", which was featured recently on Cricinfo. I found out that the Cricinfo piece was a modified version of an essay she'd written before, which was featured in this book.
I was surprised to learn that anthologies of Indian sports writing haven't really existed before this book. For that reason alone, the editor/author deserves a lot of credit. This book brings together some fine pieces of writing on sports by Indian journalists. The list of contributors includes some of the most famous Indian sports journos, such as Rohit Brijnath, Suresh Menon, Mudar Patherya etc.
The coverage is spread across a variety of sports, such as Cricket, Tennis, Hockey, Football, Athletics and even Formula 1. Even if you aren't a Cricket fan, this book still has a lot to offer, which came as a very pleasant surprise. The quality of the pieces varies, but there are a few fantastic essays, such as the ones on Leander Paes, Cricket in Kashmir, Eden Gardens and Rahul Dravid.
Overall, a good effort to bring together some of the most famous names in Indian Sports writing. Strictly speaking, it probably isn't the "Best" of Indian sports writing, but is nevertheless a nice compilation, and will hopefully lead to many more such anthologies in the future. There definitely are some fantastic sports writers in India, and we need more books like these!
Goodreads page for the book
Goodreads page for the book
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