When the much-revered Wisden’s Indian version — the Wisden India Almanack — made its debut last year, the offspring had to deal with the immense pressure of living up to its classy pedigree.
That bridge was crossed but it is still baby steps. Understandably, when the second edition, with Sachin Tendulkar on the cover, rolled out this year, its editor Suresh Menon wrote in the preface: “I can do no better than repeat Lawrence’s (Lawrence Booth, the parent Wisden’s editor) words: If you find an error, please be gentle. Or, if you prefer Yeats, tread softly because you tread on our dreams.”
Poet W.B. Yeats being quoted is just a clue to one of the key threads that binds this book — cricket’s inextricable bond with the well-crafted line. The phrase that holds your breath, words that gently nudge in a long-lost era, the firm argument and the trivia that enlightens are all part of a melange scripted by diverse authors.
The tone is set by the “Editor’s Notes”, Mike Marqusee’s ruminations in “Why Cricket?”, and aptly travel writer Pico Iyer pens: “Cricket was the best way we could turn rough life into something sweet.” The literary air is further embellished by Tariq Ali’s play, that is in the realm of the “Theatre of the Absurd” while dealing with bookies, and Jayanth Kodkani’s short story “The Everywhere Man.”
But being an almanack, the book doesn’t lose track of its essential spirit — of wrapping up the previous 12 months specific to cricket while also offering languid glances to a distant past that shaped the game. In his endeavour to tap into cricket’s varied textures, Menon is aided by an array of seasoned sports writers like R. Mohan, Vijay Lokapally, R. Kaushik, Sandeep Dwivedi, Anand Vasu Dileep Premachandran, Rahul Bhattacharya, Mike Coward and Osman Samiuddin, to name a few.
Spot-fixingThe Wisden staple of “cricketers of the year” is there and the top six are M.S. Dhoni (incidentally written by Greg Chappell), Ravindra Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara, Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq, Sri Lankan spinner Rangana Herath and Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim. If there is a quibble then it is the “date of birth” of these specific players, which pops up like an intrusive after-thought. Perhaps, it has something to do with the Wisden style-sheet when it comes to player-profiles.
Minor sulks aside, this is a compendium that stays true to course. All the cricketing action over the last year has been dutifully chronicled, ranging from India’s domestic season to international fixtures involving all teams. The stains too have been dealt with, especially the Indian Premier League’s spot-fixing scandal. Justice Mukul Mudgal, who probed the issue, has written a piece in which he minces no words about the need for the Board of Control for Cricket in India to look inwards rather than wait for the investigating agencies to bust fixing-rackets.
Above all, it is also a tome that unabashedly celebrates greatness without resorting to flattery. In the section devoted to Tendulkar, among the tributes, Coward warmly writes: “For his sake and that of Anjali, Arjun and Sara, he must not remain a prisoner of his fame. Somehow India and Indians must pledge to provide him with the rarest and most precious of gifts in all Bharat — space and room to breathe.”
The nation’s other cricketing jewels like C.K. Nayudu and Anil Kumble feature in the “Wisden India Hall of Fame.” Even an unsung player like spin-great Rajinder Goel, who unfortunately never played for India, finds space.
And hold on, the “India” in the book’s title doesn’t have any jingoistic connotations. An indulgent eye is cast upon the neighbours — specially Pakistan. There is this affectionate line from Kamila Shamsie’s article titled “Growing up with Uncle Imran”: “Pakistan! They’d say, and in the tone of their voice — envious, admiring — you could hear the soft thud of Imran’s foot hitting the ground at the end of his run-up, followed by the clatter of wickets.”
This is a book that can be opened at any page and savoured.
