A Corner of a Foreign Field

The Indian History of a British Sport

Ramachandra Guha

C. K. Nayudu and Sachin Tendulkar naturally figure in this book, but so too, in arresting and unexpected ways, do Mahatma Gandhi and Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The Indian careers of those great English cricketers, Lord Harris and D. R. Jardine, provide a window into the operations of Empire. The extraordinary life of India's first great slow bowler, Palwankar Baloo, introduces the reader to the still-unfinished struggle against caste discrimination. Later chapters explore the competition between Hindu and Muslim cricketers in colonial India and the extraordinary passions now provoked when India plays Pakistan.An important, pioneering work, essential for anyone interested in cricket and India, A Corner of a Foreign Field is also a beautifully written meditation on the ramifications of sport in society at large, and how sport can influence both social and political history.

First published:: 2002
Published by:: Pan Macmillan
Length:: Hardcover 496 pages

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About the author

Born in Dehradun in 1958, and educated in Delhi and Calcutta, Ramachandra Guha pursued an academic career for ten years before becoming a full-time writer and regular on the global lecture circuit. He is also an internationally-renowned cricket journalist, editor of The Picador Book of Cricket and author of the prize-winning A Corner of a Foreign Field: The Indian History of a British Sport. He lives in Bangalore.