A great sport and some great men

‘Cricket and Underdogs‘ has been my favourite topic from quite some time now. So when i read this review on cricinfo about the book “Out of the blue” by Akash Chopra i was more than elated. I purchased the book from indiaplaza almost immediately after reading the review. I am very satisfied with the product i should say :P

So this is the story of Rajasthan’s Ranji Trophy 2010-11 win. What made the win special was that they had never won it before.. they were piled up last in the plate league (ranji trophy has plate division and elite division) .. which means i think they were rank 27 of 27 teams :P .. they had never come close to winning after a runner-up finish 36 yrs ago in 1974 season.. it is the classic underdog story narrated wonderfully well by akash chopra. This year’s ranji trophy also seems to have another underdog story in the making ;) ..

What makes the book special is the stories.. classic underdog triumphs.. each one of them! :) .. I will try and write down some stories.. just like in the cricinfo review :P .. May be this one needs a spoiler alert? :P

• Akash Chopra’s own story of how he was unceremoniously kicked out of Delhi Ranji team because he had hit a bad patch despite being one of the highest run getters in season before that has all ingredients of a suspense thriller .. you never know whether he is in or out of the team and the reasons thereof :P  He gets a call “Out of the Blue” to be a part of the Rajasthan ranji team 2010-11.. and that is how the book starts :) . His autobiographical take on what a player undergoes when he faces the axe makes you wonder about how ruthless we all are as “fans” :P
• The story of Hrishikesh Kanitkar also is quite similar to the one above. Kanitkar is axed from the Maharashtra side after he hits 4 back2back half centuries in five matches .. citing “perceived lack of fitness” as the reason without conducting any tests whatsoever. He then moves on to Madhyapradesh team and finally to Rajashtan team in 2010-11.
• The story of the paceman Pankaj Singh is no less inspiring. He moves from a village near Lucknow to lucknow to allahabad to kolkata to chennai and finally to jaipur .. all in pursuit of a stable cricket career. In the midst of this pursuit there are innumerable rejections from various cricket teams and cricket associations across states. He joins in a college in hope of finding a job in army as he decides to forget the idea of playing cricket forever .. so on so forth. Very inspiring. He later turns out to be one of the biggest success stories in Rajashtan’s rise in Ranji.
• It also has the story of another paceman who was called a “Good for nothing” by Greg Chappel :P He goes on to have a god level 7.3-2-10-8 stat in his debut match against Hyderabad in the by now famous 21 all-out match
• The story of another bowler in the team who used to practice bowling action on the railway platform much to the ridicule of people  around him is hilarious and touchy at the same time. And why did he have to do all this?? .. because of financial compulsions at home which meant that he can’t quit his job in railways!
• There is this other story about a player who had to play cricket because it was the only way for him to feed his family. This story particularly will make you shed a tear or two as the player in question goes through instances of multiple deaths in family in a span of months.. including the death of a two month old baby girl. It made me sit back and wonder about how many times.. i carelessly pass a comment or two on many cricketers little wondering the circumstances behind the failure. Like this player.. who had to pack bags to play a first class match within hours after his daughter’s burial ! .. I think sometimes we just view at cricketers as if they are devices of entertainment little wondering about their human side! :( .. Infact this story also talks about a planB of this player which was to enroll in correspondence course to clear CFA! .. Cricket – Plan A.. CFA- Plan B! .. He also takes up a job in Indian Postal Department somewhere in the story! .. Reality can’t get any bitter than it is in this story .. Hatsoff to him for having survived through all this. Every problem in your own life would seem inconsequential and insignificant when you get to know of such stories
• The book then moves on to another interesting story .. that of someone who had to write CAT in pursuit of an alternate career as he had to face too many rejections from cricket associations! .. He scores a decent 84% which could have definitely got him a decent MBA degree :P
• The story of another cricketer who lost both his parents before his teens is no less inspiring. So much is his love for his mother that he inscribes his mother’s name on every single piece of apparel and gear he uses while playing representative cricket! ..
• Akash chopra then converts the book into a player’s diary by giving a commentary of all that happened on-pitch and off-pitch in the path to the Ranji trophy win .. includes the scorecards and detailed descriptions about matches with Maharashtra, Goa, Tamilnadu, Tripura, Jharkhand etc etc

All in all a super awesome book! Must read for all cricket fans.. Go buy the book :P .. If you stay in and around my place of residence .. then borrow :P .

UNDERDOG ZINDABAD!!!!

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