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Current Issue: July 2009

No Juicy Stuff, All Bare Facts

The country has produced some outstanding sports journalists whose writings have been as delightful as watching the sporting events themselves. Some of them have gone on to draw upon their vast knowledge of the game as also the varied incidents and episodes they were witness to - on and off the field - to bring out some really interesting books - some of them with a lot of insider revelations.

However, in book-writing none, perhaps, can match Kishin R. Wadhwaney — better known to his friends and colleagues as Wadhwaney Saheb (or sain in Lucknow from where he started his journalistic career.) Drawing upon the rich experience gained during his long stint on sports desk of The Indian Express as a correspondent and Sports Editor, besides free lancing for magazines and news agencies, he may well go down in record books for the maximum number of books by a sports journalist. In a career spanning over 50 years, he has by now authored 20 books. Most of them have been on cricket, which has always been his first love, having been a cricketer himself. Perhaps, he still holds the record for the highest runs scored in Lucknow's All India Sheesh Mahal cricket tournament, one of the two well-known hot weather tournaments conducted in Northern India at the height of the summer season, once considered to be the lean season for cricket in India. (The other tournament was Delhi's Hot Weather played at the Kotla.)

Never known to hold himself back from stirring up a hornets' nest, quite a few of Wadhwaney's books - and writings in his columns and reports as well — have touched upon controversial issues and personalities. However, the title of his latest book itself would make one blink and wonder what it is all about. Some with blinkers would expect "juicy" stuff to propagate their own perverted way of thinking.

Muslim Cricketers of India, which is the title of the book, does not throw up any bombshells in the sense some would be looking for or expecting. It's a well-documented book about the significant contribution made by Muslim cricketers for the growth of the game in this country. Starting with the tournaments between Parsees and Europeans at the end of the 19th century, the game went on to become a triangular tournament

Starting with the tournaments between Parsees and Europeans at the end of the 19th century, the game went on to become a triangular tournament with the Hindus joining in, then a quadrangular with the participation of Muslims and when the Christians and Anglo-Indians also pitched in, it became a pentangular one

with the Hindus joining in, then a quadrangular with the participation of Muslims and when the Christians and Anglo-Indians also pitched in, it became a pentangular. Despite participation of teams on communal lines, there was never any ill-feeling between the different communities. The tournaments were conducted on purely professional lines and each player played for the sheer love of the game.

C.K. Nayudu had these words to record about the tournaments: "It was one of the few tournaments where no trophy or individual prizes were offered and where players played for the game's sake and honours that go with it." He also spoke of the spirit of equality and brotherhood that the tournaments fostered helping to raise Indian cricket to international standards. The author himself makes a very telling point: "There was more realism and sporting spirit associated with this tournament than is shown in Ranji or domestic matches." The fine skills displayed by the players in the tournaments heralded the entry of India amongst cricket-playing countries, though the pentangular series was brought to an end largely because Gandhi objected to the formation of teams on communal lines as according to him it ran contrary to his ideas of communal harmony. (The fact that the tournaments did not foster any sort of communal discord could not possibly have been properly appreciated by the Mahatma who was spearheading a struggle on a totally different plane.) The formation of a unified Board for controlling the game in the country, and the demand for formation of teams for each State was also a contributory factor.

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