In a country where cricket is not just a game but life itself, The Great Indian Cricket Circus by Abhishek Mukherjee and Joy Bhattacharjya, is a welcome book, which brings curious episodes, interesting anecdotes, facts, statistics and more from the vaults of Indian cricket’s history. Here’s a selection from the book:

Indian Cricket in Fiction: English Literature

Ruskin Bond, Cricket for the Crocodile (1986)

‘The parents of little Ranji (yes, Ranji) use the sport to trick him into focusing on mathematics (‘you might need maths to work out your batting average’) or history (‘famous cricketers make history’), but cricket remains his priority. One faithful spectator of the enthusiastic village matches is Nakoo the crocodile, whose interest has mostly to do with the personnel (the ‘juicy bank manager’, for example). The match begins with an unexpected pitch invasion—and gets funnier. Bond does not let his readers down.’

Against All Odds: Indian Cricketers Who Overcame Pain

Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi

Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi lost his right eye in a car accident in 1961 even before he played Test cricket. When ‘Gubby’ Allen asked Pataudi why he took the bold decision to continue to play cricket with a glass eye, the latter responded, ‘When I saw the English attack.’ In 46 Test matches, Pataudi scored 2,793 runs at an average of 35: how many more he might have scored, one cannot help but wonder. 

Having pulled a hamstring, Pataudi had sat out of the first Test match of India’s 1967/68 tour of Australia. He announced himself available only on the morning of the second Test match, at Melbourne, despite not having recovered. When he came to bat on the first morning, India had been reduced to 25/5 on a green wicket, Rusi Surti had retired hurt, and it was drizzling. Pataudi’s one-legged, counterattacking 75 was so spectacular that Lindsay Hassett compared him to Don Bradman. Robert Menzies, former Australian prime minister, was left wondering what Pataudi might have done with ‘two eyes and two good legs.’ Pataudi added 85 in the second innings for good.

Standing Out in the Stands

Unity in Diversity

The first Indian team featured four Hindus, four Muslims, two Parsees and a Sikh, making it the first time four religions were represented in an XI in the history of Test cricket. The Indian team against England at Bombay in 1961/62 went a step ahead: there were six Hindus (ML Jaisimha, Vijay Manjrekar, Budhi Kunderan, Ramakant Desai, Vasant Ranjane, V V Kumar), Abhishek Mukherjee and Joy Bhattacharjya, two Sikhs (the brothers, Kripal and Milkha Singh), a Parsee (Nari Contractor), a Christian (Chandu Borde) and a Muslim (Salim Durani). There would be several subsequent instances of an Indian XI featuring five religions. The first time the Indian team represented only one religion was in the Edgbaston Test of 1979, almost half a century after their first Test match. This is in stark contrast with most other Test-playing nations, whose early XIs were dominated by one religion. 

Indian Cricket in Fiction: Films

Lagaan (2001)

It was only a matter of time before Bollywood figured out a way to amalgamate cricket with patriotism. They then roped in Bhanu Athaiya and 

A R Rahman, and brick by brick, built the magnum opus of Indian cricket movies. From practice under floodlights to handmade pads to match-fixing, Lagaan has everything, including tributes to Palwankar Baloo and Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, and a mention of W G Grace. Despite its deviations from cricket, or at least from its 1893 laws, Lagaan manages to stand the test of time. The film also made its way to the Academy Awards nominations.

Why me?: Cricket Venues Named after Unusual People

Author and Novelist

Emily Eden, an English writer of the early nineteenth century, visited India to meet her brother, George Eden, the governor general of India between 1836 and 1842. Her much-acclaimed memoirs, Up the Country: Letters Written to Her Sister from the Upper Provinces of India, were published in 1867. Eden Gardens, Kolkata is named after her.

All-Rounders: Indian Cricketers Representing Their Country at Another Sport

Yuzvendra Chahal (chess and cricket)

An under-12 national champion in chess, Chahal represented India at the Asian Youth Championship in 

Kozhikode and the World Youth Chess Championship in Greece. However, chess was expensive, and he had to quit when he could not find a sponsor. His FIDE rating (standard) is 1956.

Silver Screen: Cricketers Who Acted in Movies

Salil Ankola

Salil Ankola and Sachin Tendulkar made their Test debuts together, but Ankola never played another Test match, though he did play 20 ODIs. After quitting cricket, he acted in several television serials, and played major roles in Kurukshetra (2000) and Pitaah (2002), both directed by Mahesh Manjrekar and featuring Sanjay Dutt in the lead role. Though the films he appeared in thereafter flopped, Ankola kept working in television serials. In 2003, he turned down an offer to play a match-fixer on screen, saying it was ‘against his principles’.

(Excerpted with permission of HarperCollins Publishers India)