Image for representation purpose only.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images/istock
Travelogues that have cricket as their centrepiece serve twin purposes. They not only help remember the game itself, but also — when written well — sweep the readers off their feet and carry them on a jolly good ride around the landscapes that helped shape the sport.
Aditya Iyer’s Gully Gully is one such book. It chronicles the journey of one of the greatest Indian white-ball sides ever built, that went on a nine-city pilgrimage around the country mesmerising supporters through the 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.
Indian players during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 final match between India and Australia, at the Narendra Modi Stadium, in Ahmedabad.
| Photo Credit:
PTI
India ended up losing to Australia in the final, agonisingly. But in the years to come, the quality of the cricket is sure to supplant the disappointment in fans’ memories, and Iyer’s work will go a considerable way in facilitating that.
Rahul Dravid, head coach of India, speaking to the team ahead of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup India 2023 Final between India and Australia.
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Getty Images
A story per match
The story is told in 11 chapters, one for each match. And it is done through myriad characters who fill the cities they dwell in with colour and paint a glorious — and sometimes not-so-glorious — picture of the prevalent cricketing culture, both past and present.
Cricketer Rishi Dhawan
| Photo Credit:
Vijay Soneji
Cricket in India is said to have been embraced first by the royals and then mastered by the masses. Iyer spins his yarn through an eclectic mix of people that covers the full arc.
Chennai Super Kings player Kedar Jadhav
| Photo Credit:
K. Pichumani
There are interviews with Chennai Super Kings superfan Saravanan Hari, Virat Kohli’s childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma in West Delhi, and cricketers Kedar Jadhav and Rishi Dhawan who have brought name and fame to Pune and Himachal Pradesh.
Television anchor Mayanti Langer
| Photo Credit:
Sandeep Saxena
Ravikant Shukla’s tale in Lucknow is the story of many a cricketing subaltern, while the musings of advocate Fredun DeVitre and television anchor Mayanti Langer in relatively urbane settings throw light on the changing face of commentary and broadcasting.
Through the book, Iyer has displayed a reporter’s eye for detail. There are rich accounts of what transpires at routine media briefings that precede and succeed matches, and vivid descriptions of shots played, wickets taken and catches held.
Equally, the author has showcased a feature writer’s flair. The fact that he is not always boxed in a media enclosure at stadiums and confined to claustrophobic word limits seems to have liberated him. He slips into the stands, speaks to the crowd, soaks in everything that the atmosphere has to offer and allows this to drip feed his writing.
Cricket occupies the centre of his canvas. But with first-rate embellishments, Iyer has left his mark.
Gully Gully; Aditya Iyer, Penguin Play, ₹499.
sudarshan.narayanan@thehindu.co.in
Published – November 08, 2024 09:01 am IST
