VVS Laxman calls it “A beautiful journey through India’s cricket history. A book to cherish.” It indeed is. It relives some of the finest moments of Indian cricket through 28 Tests. I am glad the authors, S. Giridhar and V. J. Raghunath, chose to write on the longest format of the game. Test cricket, its romance, intrigue, oozes out of every page of this superbly-constructed cricket tale.
The idea to do this book was their passion for Test cricket. Says Giridhar, “The idea of ‘Mumbai to Durban’ took shape around the time ‘Midwicket Tales’ (their first book) was going into print. We felt that if we contributed a narration of India’s post-independence Test history through a selection of the finest Tests, it might be a worthwhile addition to Indian cricket literature. We were clear, that we won’t merely celebrate the finest victories but include draws, tie and loss as that would be the only way to capture the ebb, flow and growth of Indian Test cricket.”
The best part of the research, adds Raghunath, was, “Analysing our Test matches and deciding the Test matches that would qualify to be in our list. To gather as much of the old reports from newspapers and magazines, read with fresh purpose long forgotten books. Data analysis to test hypothesis. And, of course, talking to players and journalists.”
The book, with a foreword by Gideon Haigh, the best cricket writer of modern times, is divided into four parts. It begins with the period from 1947 to 1969 which they call ‘Hope Takes Root’. The next part takes you on a rollicking journey from 1970 to 1980, a critical period in Indian cricket and is appropriately titled ‘A Heady Feeling’. ‘Everyone’s Game’ deals with the period from 1981 to 2000 and is followed by ‘The Rise To The Top’, the most engrossing section of the book, from 2001 to 2010
Giridhar’s favourite Test is the 2001 Kolkata Test, described as The Greatest Game Ever. “But if I were to pick another Test then it would be either Oval 1971 or Perth 2008. Both overseas wins, against the top ranked teams of the respective times,” he adds.
For Raghunath, the favourite Test, apart from the Chennai Tied Test (1986) and Kolkata 2001, is, “A game that just failed to make our list but was an outstanding Test. It was the 1967 Test at Chepauk, Chennai against a terrific West Indies team that had a galaxy – Sobers, Kanhai, Butcher, Nurse, Hall, Griffith and Gibbs. Engineer's hundred, brilliant knocks by Wadekar, V Subramanya and Borde; great spells by Chandra, Pras and Bedi. Then, the great escape by Sobers and Griffith. The disappointment of not winning after having them on the mat lingers on for me even today.”
They built their partnership on a solid understanding. Giridhar reveals, “The ideation, discussion, and selection of themes, topics or games was a joint exercise. On Neil Harvey, his boyhood idol, every word had to be only written by Raghu while any anecdote on Jaisimha and Venkataraghavan was by me against all opposition! Data analysis and making the internet yield all its gold was my task; pulling in old forgotten stories of Umrigar, Gupte and others was Raghu’s work. Weaving a narration – how to begin and end a chapter would be essentially my work.”
The last chapter of the book is a classic case of collaboration. “Raghu had some terrific insights and hypothesis, I added a few of my own. I then dug out data to corroborate our hypothesis and we literally wrote this chapter, sitting side by side. It helps that not only are we old friends with a love for cricket and cricket literature, we also have great affection for each other.”
From Mumbai To Durban is a veritable feast of cricket stories. A welcome addition to a cricket lover’s library.
