Skip to main content

Eleven Gods and a Billion Indians - Boria Majumdar


Boria Majumdar is one of  India’s famous sports writers and a authority on the subject. In this book, he brings about a fascinating exploration of cricket—packed with lively narratives and never-before-seen photographs.  The hard cover edition is perhaps the most comprehensive and authoritative account of modern Indian cricket history.

Eleven Gods and a Billion Indians takes you on a historical tour of India’s utmost popular sport—going from early tours in 1886 to the more modern IPL, offering a complete understanding of the evolution of the game both on and off the field. Containing material that has never-been in the public domain before, this book showcases in-depth research on cases like Monkeygate, the suspension of Lalit Modi, match-fixing scandals, and more controversies and incidents which have made Indian cricket to what it is.




Intertwining together personal interviews, rare photographs, and letters, Eleven Gods and a Billion Indians asks some significant questions that need answering, among them: Has internal struggle and egoism impacted the on- field performance of the Indian cricket team? Did some icons fail the nation and the sport by trying to hide key facts during the spot-fixing inquiry? And does it matter to the ordinary fan who heads the BCCI if there is transparency and culpability in the system?

Recounting the past of cricket throughout colonial and post-independence Indian lifespan, Eleven Gods and a Billion Indians gives captivating insight into those who support, endorse, play, and watch the sport, as well as the entire country now considered the global hub of the world of cricket.

I however found it hard to believe that the author chose to ignore the contribution of Subhash Chandra and Kapil Dev led ICL. It was Indian Cricket League which led to the creation of IPL and credit should have been due there. While the author has been generous enough to devote a chapter to Women cricket, more history would have been great. The book is about the Gods anyways so maybe the skip is okay.

Pages 450
Publisher - Simon & Schuster


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Also read

Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

Why does Mrs Dalloway still speak to you after a hundred years? A human reading of Virginia Woolf’s novel A reflective and thoughtful review of Mrs Dalloway that explores why Virginia Woolf’s modernist classic continues to resonate. From memory and mental health to love, regret, and time, this article examines characters, themes, context, and craft while questioning whether the novel still challenges and comforts today’s reader. Why does a novel about one ordinary day linger in your mind for years? This long form review of Mrs Dalloway explores through its quiet power. You will find analysis, critique, history, and personal reflection on why this book continues to unsettle and comfort readers alike. Can a single ordinary day hold an entire life? Have you ever reached the end of a day and wondered where it went, and more unsettlingly, where you went within it? That question sits at the heart of Mrs Dalloway , Virginia Woolf’s 1925 novel that dares to suggest that the smallest moment...
Post a Comment
Read more

Spill the Tea: Noor and the Silence After Doing Everything right

Noor has done everything she was supposed to do — moved out, built a life, stayed independent. Yet beneath the neat routines and functional success lies a quiet emptiness she cannot name. Part of the Spill the Tea series, this story explores high-functioning loneliness, emotional flatness, and the unsettling fear of living a life that looks complete from the outside. The verandah was brighter than Noor expected. Morning light lay flat across the tiles, showing every faint scuff mark, every water stain from old monsoons. The air smelled of detergent from a neighbour’s washed curtains flapping overhead. On the table, the paneer patties waited in a cardboard bakery box I’d emptied onto a plate. A squeeze bottle of ketchup stood beside it, slightly sticky around the cap. Two cups of tea, steam already thinning. In one corner, a bamboo palm stood in a large terracotta planter. Thin stems. Too many leaves. Trying very hard to look like it belonged indoors. Noor sat down and pulled the chair ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Why do we crave bookshops when life falls apart? A deep reading of Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop

This article reflects on Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum, a gentle novel about burnout, healing, and second chances. Through Yeong-ju and her quiet community, the book reminds you that meaning often returns slowly, through books, people, and ordinary days that begin to feel like home again. Why do so many of us secretly dream of walking away from everything? At some point, usually on a crowded weekday morning or during yet another meeting that could have been an email, you wonder if this is all there is. You did what you were told. You studied, worked hard, built a career, stayed responsible. And yet, instead of contentment, there is exhaustion. Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop begins exactly at this uncomfortable truth. Hwang Bo-reum’s novel does not shout its intentions. It does not promise transformation through grand revelations. Instead, it sits beside you quietly and asks a gentler question. What if the problem is not that you failed, but that you nev...
Post a Comment
Read more