Pundits from Pakistan: On Tour with India, 2003-04 [Paperback]

Product Details

• Paperback: 344 pages
• Publisher: Picador USA
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0330439790
• ISBN-13: 978-0330439794
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,886,251 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A cricketing masterpiece, March 14, 2010

By 

Souvik Mitra "S!" (Bangalore, India) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pundits from Pakistan: On Tour with India, 2003-04 (Paperback)

Bhattacharya's Pundits from Pakistan is a quite delectable read. It is the story of India's tour of Pakistan in 2003-04 - a series of 3 tests & 5 ODI matches - the atmosphere is charged, the historicity is palpable, & cricket matches find themselves elevated beyond regular sporting contests & become meaningful to the ideas of individual accomplishments & national aspirations.

It is the story of the delightful Abdul Qadir, the tale of the Kaneria family, the growing up of the Rawalpindi express, the Lahori view of the cricketing world, & provincial ambitions fighting for their place in the cricketing limelight. It is the story of administrative goof-ups, of a beleaguered captain & his hometown, of incredible hospitalities strewn into the fabric of daily grind & disarray.

And the matches themselves, as they play out, fit into this frenzy of expectations & hopes, rising & receding, swaying like a slightly drunken man & vacillating like a question of philosophy. There is disparaging annhilation, & there is tantalizing swing. There is collapse & there is a clinical chase. There is the hidden Dravid double century & the hotly debated Dravid declaration. Pakistan topped the ODI batting & bowling aggregates & lost; India topped the test batting & bowling averages & won.

For those of you who are interested in cricket beyond the strokes & adrenalin, I'd recommend this book very highly.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sheer reading pleasure, March 31, 2009

By 

Rajeev Rajagopalan "Rajeev" (Bangalore, India) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pundits from Pakistan: On Tour with India, 2003-04 (Paperback)

Strangely as a book on sports, this book is a poignant read- more so because of the circumstances of the present rather than the happenings in the book. The book is about, a really good attempt at friendship, an act of faith. While I write the review Mumbai has been attacked, Pakistan is on the brink of disaster and the bickering doesn't seem to stop. This book should be mandatory reading.
The book is set in 2004 with India coming off a high of sorts recording a test win in Australia. The Indian team was set to visit Pakistan for a historic series as a sign of thawing of relationships. Pakistan had an awesome record against India and the series promised to be enthralling. The book - part travelogue, part history and for the most part sports captures every moment in lyrical prose.
The book begins with the unveiling of the preparations for the tour, furious debates on security, high handedness and showdowns galore before the party kicks off. Endless queues to get visas and finally the author sets foot in Pakistan and here's where the poetry starts. Quaint characters populate the book, there is loads of hospitality showered and the author uses his connections to reach out to the powers that matter behind Pakistani cricket. The matches - each of them epics by themselves is the stuff of DVD memorabilia by itself(there are classics from Inzamam, VVS, Dravid and Sehwag with the bat, Balaji , Shoaib and Irfan with the ball), but what clicks with the reader is the descriptions of life on the street, the remarkable richness of the culture described. Some of the interviews are downright hilarious- Abdul Quadir at his bombastic best, Shoaib Akhtar shooting his mouth off, but incredibly interesting is the visits to a Sufi Urs, the Wagah border face off.
The book is a gem- an intricate weave, and would rank as one of the best works of sports writing. I wonder if the gates ever open again as wide as it did during this series, but am thankful that this book got smuggled through. If everyone reads it wounds may heal again

5.0 out of 5 stars 5-star product with 1-star Marketplace experience, July 19, 2011

By 

GoStanford (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pundits from Pakistan: On Tour with India, 2003-04 (Paperback)

This book is difficult to find, and I purchased it as a present. It was shipped from a publisher in New Delhi, and I will restrict my comments here to the book itself, other than to say that the Marketplace experience was poor (including no notification of a very delayed shipment), and amazon.com's response to it was suboptimal.

The recipient is enjoying the book, and the quality of the book itself (printing, cover, visuals) is very good. If you are searching for this book, expect that it will take 6-8 weeks to receive it successfully. As you might expect from other comments, Mr. Bhattacharya's writing is detailed and evocative.