Crime Beyond 22 Yards

by Sourabh Mukherjee

During the summer of 2000, Delhi Police brought allegations of match-fixing against the South African skipper Hansie Cronje. Though he denied the allegations to start with, Cronje later went on to reveal shocking truths. The confessions of a bookie in India then went on to shake the foundations of valour and gallantry that the game of cricket stands for. Before long, the scandal spread its tentacles all over the world. Crime Beyond 22 Yardsis a fast-paced reality thriller that throws light on the biggest international scandal in the game of cricket, how heroes turned overnight into villains, and how there was tragic redemption at the end of this sordid saga.

47 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 15, 2018

About the author

Mid-Day calls Sourabh Mukherjee 'one of the front-runners in Indian crime fiction' and The Asian Age calls him 'one of the most popular writers of Indian crime fiction'. India Today has honoured him as one of the “ten celebrated role models of 2022” and Outlook calls him one of the “top ten personalities to look upon if you are looking for an inspiration”.

Sourabh Mukherjee is the author of true-crime books 'The Highway Murders' and 'Death Served Cold' as well as thriller novels - 'The Web of Lies', 'The Trail of Blood', 'The Sinners', and 'In the Shadows of Death'.

He has written three collections of short stories - 'Loves Lost'; 'Beyond 22 Yards', a collection of 2 titles about Love and Crime from the world of cricket; 'It's All About Love', a collection of 7 short stories titled 'The Gift', 'The Cookery Show and a Love Story', 'A Special Day', 'Masks', 'An Autumn Turmoil', 'The Hunt', and 'The Death Wish'.

His books in Bengali include thrillers titled 'Chandralekha Nihato', 'Oindrila Ghore Phereni', 'Ratisanghar', 'Shonitakshar' and a collection of short stories titled 'Roshe Doshe', apart from stories in popular anthologies and periodicals.

Sourabh has co-authored a textbook 'Big Data Simplified' published by Pearson. He has also written columns for Yahoo! Sports.

The audiobooks of his titles are also very popular. The 2 titles in the 'Beyond 22 Yards' series, the 7 titles in the series 'It's All About Love' as well as 'The Highway Murders', 'The Trail of Blood', 'Death Served Cold' and 'The Sinners' have been adapted into audiobooks in Amazon Audible. 'In the Shadows of Death' is on Storytel and Google Play Books. The regional language audiobooks for 'Death Served Cold' are on KukuFM. The audiobook of his Bengali novel 'Chandralekha Nihoto' is a topper in Suspense Top 50 chart of PocketFM, a leading audiobook platform of the country.

His books have featured in bestseller lists in bookstores and online stores. His books are in consideration for screen adaptations, including 'The Highway Murders' being acquired by a leading production house and an earlier edition of ‘The Web of Lies’ being long-listed in WordToScreen conducted by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI), Mumbai International Film Festival.

Sourabh has been honoured with several awards. He received the Golden Pen Award in the Sulekha Monsoon Romance Contest (2014), Juggernaut Selects Award (2019), Literoma Hall of Fame in The Literoma International Symposium on Literature and Festival (2020), The Man of Excellence Award from Indian Achievers' Forum (2021) and the Munshi Premchand Award for Literature (2023). He is invited regularly to book fairs and literary events across the country. His books have received accolades from readers, book critics and the mainstream national media.

Sourabh can be reached at:

Website: www.sourabhmukherjee.com
E-mail: mukherjee.sourabh74@gmail.com
Instagram: authorsourabhmukherjee
Facebook: www.facebook.com/authorsourabhmukherjee
Twitter: @sourabhm_ofcl
Blog: http://blog.sourabhmukherjee.com

Reviews

[Pallavi Sareen · Rating 3 out of 5]

My response after reading this book was same as its prequel. it looked like a compilation of articles instead of a book that came as a result of in-depth result of the match-fixing and other controversial incidents associated with the cricket world. The concept itself is interesting but not executed that well. And how much detail can one give in a 50-page book anyway? As a proper non-fiction book, this book failed to do its job and the narration was lacking intensity and depth. The whole book went by like me reading the headlines of major events that happened, with just the intro summing up what it was about. There was nothing mentioning what led up to that point or any emotions associated with it. The writing, though refined fails to make the reader connected. In the end, the only plus points that work in the favour of the book is the originality of idea, the book cover and the fact that it is short.

[Anupama C K(b0rn_2_read) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a huge cricket fan in my childhood. My Grandpa and my brother were huge fans so that is how I fell in love with the game. There have been so many days when I have prayed for a win. There were matches which elate you and matches which destroy you. I knew the names of all the players of the Indian Cricket team and some of the other teams too by heart.But then came the bookie Scandal in 2000, when we came to know that there was match fixing involved. People whom we had worshipped, put on a pedestal had betrayed us. In India, where cricket is considered a religion, this was a huge blow to the fans. 
It is a short fast paced read. The facts have been well researched and follows the bookie Scandal chronologically. It starts with the arrest of the South African captain, Hans Cronje in 2000 for match fixing. Though he initially denied the accusations later he confessed that he was introduced to Mukesh Gupta,the bookie by Mohammed Azharuddin , the Indian Captain. The fingers point to Azharuddin, Kapil Dev,Ajay Jadeja and Nayan Mongia. Thus started the witch hunt against the accused Indian Cricketers.  I felt that the book ended abruptly and i wanted more details. The book lacks depth ,it skims through the main points. I found it interesting but i expected more
Recommended for cricket fans

[Subhajit Das · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Name: Crime Beyond 22 Yards
Author Name: Sourabh Mukherjee
Format: Kindle
No of Pages: 47
Publisher: Srishti Publishers & Distributors (15/6/2018)
Blurb: The blurb section of the book is written perfectly by highlighting the base content of the book. It reveals enough for the readers to make them curious about going through the pages of the book. So, it is good and neat indeed.
Cover: The front cover of the book is catchy and it is justifying the substance of the book appropriately. The ‘Money – Cricketer – Bookie’ combination in the cover perfectly depicts what the book is all about.
Title: The title of the book is simple yet attention seeking (because of the word ‘Crime’ in it) and it will tempt the readers to think about the possible connection between ‘Crime’ and ’22 Yards’. Even the tagline (‘The scandal which shook the world’) too seems interesting. As it is complimenting the inner content of the story, hence I consider the title good and appropriate enough.
Language & narration: Language of the book is easy going, lucid enough to comprehend and the fast paced core thrilling narrating style of the author made this book a quick & pleasant read. Authentic narration of the proper connected events, made it visible for the readers to go through.
Plot: The base plot of the book is based completely on true events and the purpose is to put front the source and the era of the biggest controversial dark age of the history of cricket and that is- betting turning into match fixing. How the illegal betting racket became active and started to decide the fate of the important matches by bribing the captain of the teams and how that affected the spirit and violated the game called Cricket- is the topic discussed here. I must say that the author has taken a bold step by keeping this kind of controversial issue in front and dissect those incidents to the core.
Setting: Setting of the events mentioned in the book variant to places but mainly in India, South Africa, London, Pakistan & Sri Lanka got highlighted with the content need.
Characterization: The real life characters been discussed here according to the plot are- Ishwar Singh Redhu, Hansie Cronje, Sanjay Chawla, Herchelle Gibbs, Pieter Strydom, Boje, Rajesh Kalra, K.K.Paul, Ali Bacher, Aziz Pahad, Kepler Wessels, Pradeep Srivastava, AC Muthiah, Shaun Pollock, Hamid Cassim, Bob Woolmer, Kishan Kumar, Anees Ibrahim, Dawood Ibrahim, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Manoj Prabhakar, Chandrachud, Nasser Hussain, Roshan Mahanama, Asanka Gurusinha, Sanath Jayasurya, Shane Warne, Mark Waugh, Qayyum, Saleem Malik, Ata-ur-Rehman, Wasim Akram, Mushtaq Ahmed, Waqar Younis, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Akram Raza, Saeed Anwar, Brian Lara, Pat Symcox, Henry Williams, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Lance Klusener, Mukesh Gupta aka MK aka John, Sunil, Mohammad Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, Ajay Sharma, Nayan Mongia, Kapil Dev, Nikhil Chopra, Ali Irani, Arjuna Ranatunga, Aravinda de Silva, Martin Crowe, Alec Stewart, Maurice Odumbe, Gavin Branson, Talat Al, Patrick Murphy, Clive Ricem Ian Chappel.
Theme: Betting & match fixing, thriller, cricket & betting, dark era of cricket, mystery.
Contents: The book contains the source and details of the biggest scandals of the era (early 90s to millennium 2000) of Cricket history. It is all about corruption of team captains & members, betting, and through the active participation of bookies, turning of betting into match fixing. How these controversial dark truth and scandal affected the spirit of the cricketer and completely turned down the loyalty of the cricketers and image and the actual truth behind those allegations, have been discussed here.
Govt. Officials & Delhi Police accused the captain of South African Cricket Team, Hansie Cronje for getting involved into match-fixing while playing against India, and they managed to arrange enough proof against him. When Sanjay Chawla, an active bookie in India, (connected with potentially heavy businessmen) and other sources, confessed about their involvement in this illegal activity, then Cronje did not have any option but to admit his ‘Crime’. This kind of Crime started to spread its wings far beyond 22 Yards. After a lot of agreeing and disagreeing and making many fluctuated changing statements, Cronje confessed that he was dishonest, and was involved into this fraudulent activity. He actually bound to confess because several others witnesses were coming with proper evidence and that left Cronje no choice but this. But what he revealed was the ultimate shock for the history of Indian Cricket…
Names of many heavyweights started coming into front row and these names were literally belong to the ’Heroic’ list of Cricketers; but Cronje’s shocking revelation shook the core of the cricket history. Not only names went out, but….according to the allegations, their punishment, and counter activity, investigation on them and the later truths affected the image of cricket badly. Fate of some bright stars turned upside down overnight and ended their career on a bad note.
What happened after that? Who were behind all this? Was Cronje saying the truth? What about the allegations about other ‘heavyweight’ cricketer and who were they? Were they clean? If not, then to what extent they actually in the game of greed and money? How these rackets spread their wings beyond 22 yards? To know the events in detail and the entire history of this dark era, just grab your copy of this book now and go through it.
My Verdict: Author Sourabh Mukherjee has researched a lot about this plot and the entire series of events to make it compact and prospective read for everyone. It is evident in the entire book that how details and authentic the informative details are (be it any aspect). The source of the betting racket, their activities, their mind games, operational way, how they targeted the soft spot, bribing captions and turning the fates of the match by fixing them, the racket, the bookies, scandals of different different matches, the conspiracy, political mind, strategies, confessions, law activities and its effect on the careers of accused cricketers, the face behind the curtains, the murders, suspecting the way of death, the sheer controversy, main knot of this match fixing heads, how they entire scenario of cricket started to change because of these since the early 90s, and everything is evidently described here. The greed, the crime, the disloyalty, and ultimately the unfortunate fate of knowing too deep- every single thing is portrayed here as they were like picture perfect view. It was definitely some shocking revelations for me. Enjoyed the thrill and the twists accordingly. Would like to go through future works of the same author.
Drawbacks: Drawback in the sense I have not found many, just a few tinniest typo errors and that is completely corrigible. Rest everything is perfect I can say.
Recommendation: I would like to recommend this book to avid readers out there and to everyone keen interested in the dark era of Cricket history. This book is a worthy shot for informative details. Thank you.
Rating (Overall): 4/5 Stars.

[Deepali Gupta · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cover is about the bookie scandal that shook cricket and brought about shame to the spirit of the sport. The book closely follows this scandal with great description about it. The book is crisp giving you just enough information about it. The book is a short and informative read. Easy to understand. The plot starts from Delhi police station and ends up to the route, telling you about the guilty and non guilty players as well. The author has done a commendable job on research and putting it into such a short read.
Overall -3.5/5.

[Sourav Chatterjee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must say that it's a very well researched book. The book will reveal many insights of the world of cricket. Writing a book in such a controversial topic is not easy, but the author has done a very well job. The way the author revealed the match fixing process and the entire story telling process is really awesome. The book make the readers engage. The narration is really good.
The cover is subjective.
language is good.
The title is really appropriate.

[Enakshi J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written with broad strokes, the facts are redundant. There is nothing new to offer other than a summative analysis of the news reports. However, for an apolitical person like me, who doesn’t know the head or tail of any matter related to politics, this book was surprisingly good. Reading the facts and digging deeper into the problem was interesting. With a subtle cover and a creative title, the book is an average read. Had there been more details, the plot would have passed the muster.

Overall, a light and quick read, ‘Crime beyond 22 Yards’ is a book that can be chosen to obtain one-dimensional knowledge.

Read the complete review here: http://aliveshadow.com/category-bookr...

[Sumith Chowdhury · Rating 1 out of 5]

Crime beyond 22 yards

Sometimes people get enchanted by materialistic pleasures. Pallets of greed corrupts then into committing grievous crimes.

This book revolves around this basic fact in such a way that every reader can relate himself or herself with it.

Cover is beautiful and you can relate with it easily just by looking at it. The cricketer portrait helps reader understand that it's totally with the sports of Cricket at the epicenter.

Title is good, selected well & can be visualised easily.

The book is a sololique of various kinds, different stories of different celebrities & cricketers have been infused with an utmost precision. The fact that they have an underlying impact on our minds is worth commendable. The realistic, real-time incidents have been magnified & presented in a well manner. The personification of human nature to succumb under the shackles of greed, envious deeds which often lead to mishaps has been done well.


However, the book had many drawbacks & misses out the essential details which are required to make it an easier, effective & the true essence is lost amidst all the plot & points that are required to make it sound logical.

Firstly, the book doesn't seem to be like a book or novel. It seems like a project, document, thesis, booklet, leaflet, newspaper or something like a magazine. Yes 'magazine' is the apt word which describes & justifies this. A 'cricket' magazine which talks about insider news, gossips, information leaks, etc. All I can say it's an illogical attempt to create a parody or mockbuster of a good franchise.

There's no synchronisation, no ideas, no level of understanding with which it's written. Feels more like the content or the information has been drawn out or copied from Wikipedia. If the contents would have been arranged in a more pragmatic or poignant way, then perhaps it would have been feasible enough to be read. The lack of evidence, feelings, narration, plot, sequential analysis, sense & many other crucial aspects is what makes this book inefficient & fails to convey the basic story, knowledge which the writer has tried to impart to the readers. This book is even more worst than its predecessor written by the same author with the same clichéd title, "Love Beyond 22 yards."

The only thing which I liked about the book was language. Language is quite good & the way it flows with a rhythm & effervescence is satiable!
Narration is bad. Pace is pretty fast.

Only if the book was written from a reader's pov (point of view) or perhaps like a novel, then it would have definitely been a worthy read.

[Aparna Prabhu · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is the year of 2000, the residents of Delhi have something else to bear other than the sweltering heat.
The Delhi police have levelled match-fixing allegations against the then, Proteas skipper, Hansie Cronje. Two people of Indian nationality have also been arrested namely Rajesh Kalra and Sanjay Chawla.

In an unexpected turn of events, the captain of South African cricket team resigns and admits to his involvement in the betting scandal. The worst was yet to come. In a twenty three page testimony before the King's Commission, he reveals that he was introduced to the murky world of betting by the Indian Captain, Mohammed Azharuddin. He also discloses his association with a renowned bookie Mukesh Gupta aka MK.

The case gets murkier when MK makes shocking revelations that creates tremors throughout the cricketing world. Many prominent players of countries like West Indies, Pakistan, Australia come under the line of investigation.

'Crime Beyond 22 Yards' is an account of what conspired beyond the 22 yards that tainted the game of cricket forever. It traces the roots of the notorious betting mafia syndicate that has spread across many countries.

The cover is intriguing, its dark shades corroborating the theme of the book. The language is good with occasional use of sophisticated words. The narration is flowing, the one that holds the reader's attention.The style of working of the bookies was subtly uncovered through instances.The events were coherently stringed together bearing the theme of the book. The story will be a reminiscent to the generation of the early 90's and vital information to the younger generation.

Occasionally, the aplenty information packed in few pages becomes a brunt to bear.

[Raj Nandani ( Wrap the Fury) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is more of an article than a book. The stories and events in this book are true and author has also given several references at the end of the book.

Cricket is a wildly played and admired game in India. You’ll find more cricket fans in India than employed people. The fans worship their favourite players like god and the admiration doesn’t stop only for Indian players but several foreign players also falls in this category.

If you’ll ask a child to name a few freedom fighters, no doubt he/she would name 10 – 15 of them but the same child might name more than 20 cricket players along with the country they play for, recent matches, their signature shots and child’s own view on the game.

We Indians are crazily in love with this game within 22 yards but sometimes even gods do the mistakes and the cricket players are human afterall.

This book follows the incidents of match fixing in detail along with the decisions and drama that followed in the cricket world after match fixing allegations.

It depicted the true incidents of match fixing and shed light on all the events. This book is a shocking revelation to the new made cricket fans who didn’t had the opportunity to witness the 90s scandal and drama.

The writing style is good and the articles are made bearable by the author. It was like reading a newspaper but this was atleast not boring. Half an hour read at the slowest, yet a harsh reality to the cricket fans as well as players, this book gives message to the players that don’t misuse your position and our love or the fans who made you god will themselves De-god you.

Overall a must read for all those new cricket fans who want to know more about the recent history of cricket scandals and match fixing.

[Vithya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cricket is not just known for its glamour,extravagance, Virat Kohli ,Dhoni…. Back in the beginning of the millenium the cricket world faced its worst nightmare…MATCH FIXING!!

Crime beyond 22 yards is a crisp account of the events after the big reveal by the Delhi police on the match fixing scandal in 2000. It was first time each one of us came to know that the terms Match – fixing and betting even existed. This short ebook traces all the events back to 2000 when Hansie Cronje was first accused of receiving financial rewards in exchange for throwing up the match in favour of the opponent team. But he was not the only one, cricketers of many countries were accused of being involved in the scandal.

This seemed like any other scandal but when digged deeper it got grave , horrifying and turned to be even worse complete with deceit,lies and murder.
Though not a big fan of cricket I was aware of this whole fiasco in 2000 or I thought I was , this used to be in the newspapers headlines everyday and I am sure I didn’t follow it religiously as there maybe different versions of the same story. This scandal exposed the most famed names in the world of cricket. In a crazy cricket loving country and the many money involved bad people turned more greedier and less human they used other people as bait to quench their greed. Unfortunately few cricketers fell into their trap.

A book on it has confirmed and sealed the truth.

This book is reviewed as part of book reviewer program of writersmelon.

[Dimple Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crime Beyond 22 Yards by Sourabh Mukherjee is a crime thriller with a mixture of sports. It highlights the theme of scandals in the world of cricket. All of us must have heard about match-fixing in the world of cricket. Yes, it is very popular. There are many cricketers who cheat their countries by getting involved in match-fixing scandals and take a huge amount of money in order to lose the match. But there are a few exceptional cricketers who are loyal to their nations. In case of the film Azhar, the cricketer was falsely framed by a man as he refused to accept his money to lose the match. 

I don't like sports much and I don't possess the knowledge of sports. But this book was something that caught my attention and made me read all the pages till the end without taking a single pause. I read the first book of the author as well. He always comes up with unique ideas and I am eager to read the third part of the book as well whenever it is out. I recommend this book to all the sports lovers. This book will definitely leave the reader with a smile on her face and the satisfaction she will get after reading a masterpiece of literature. 
My rating- 4/5

[Maya (Bookshot) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The incidents mentioned in this book roots back to late 90’s. Things started to open up one after the other when Delhi Police brought allegations of match fixing against the then South African Captain Hansie Cronje in the year 2000. It took around 8 years from there for the situation to settle down and get the cricket world back to normal. Many cricket players including Indian players and some well known businesses men were involved in the match fixing scandal. All these brought great shame to the cricket world as well as respective Countries to which the players belonged to.

All the 47 pages in this book are filled with information. The author has compiled every possible information related to the scandal from various available sources and presented it in a chronological manner. It was a short and worth read for me.

Since I had no in-depth knowledge about those betting controversies, I literally had to google every single incident mentioned in the book. And that gave me much more insight about the scandal. I am very happy that I read this book. For a person like me, this book had a lot to offer.

Just look at the cover of the book. Isn’t it strong enough to catch your attention?

[Nidhi Author · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crime Beyond 22 Yards is a book that will tempt you to read it as soon as you read the blurb of the book. If you are a huge cricket fan, I am sure you are not going to waste a second and start reading the book. The cover of the book has been designed beautifully and the title does full justice to the storyline of the book. Being myself a huge cricket fan, I was surprised and shocked after reading this book. As the book is based on true stories, while reading I felt that if I would not have read this book; I would have never know about these scandals. Betting and Match Fixing is the most common word in the field of cricket and the book holds many hidden secrets of it. The author did a good research before penning down the stories. The language of the book is lucid and the author has very well narrated the story. The best thing is it is a short read but one won’t find that the author is jumping from one place to another quickly. The pace has been maintained well by the author. Overall, I would recommend this book to all the mystery lover and cricket fans.

[Sayan Basak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Remember the Bollywood film Dishoom where the plot tweaks in-between cricketing and a thriller? Crime beyond 22 is a plot which will make you read till the end without blinking in the midst. The author has beautifully amalgamated his readers love for cricket with the thrill. But true love goes far deeper than that. It is an unexplainable connection of the heart, one that endures triumph and tragedy, pain and suffering, obstacles and loss. It is something that is either present or missing - there is no "almost", "in between", "most of the time." It is the unexplainable reason that some marriages entered into after one-week courtships can last a lifetime. Its absence is why "perfect" marriages fall apart. It can't be quantified or explained in science, religion, or philosophy. It can't be advised on by friends or marriage counselors who can't take their own advice. There are no rules, no how-to books, no guaranteed methods of success. It is not defined by vows or rings or promises of tomorrow. It is simply a miracle of God, that too few are blessed to experience.

[Pavan Sharma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crime beyond 22 yards is the book written on the theme of match fixing allegations against South African skipper Hansie Cronje which thrilled the nation in year 2000.
Later after the statement of Hansie cronje and the investigation made by Delhi police,two indian businessmen also get arrested. The way of narration of the whole scandal and facts is very nice and informative. It seems that the author has researched well before writing the book which made me glued to it and I came to know many unknown facts about the scandal.
Cover is catchy and language is easy to understand. The book is a nice short read.

[Aparna Preethi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title and the cover picture portray and justifies the story too well. It’s indeed about the cricketers but who get doomed and it opens with centering Hansie Cronje. With lot many researches, the book has been set on true facts and the credits goes to the author for making the outcome engaged with thriller. Any true cricket lover will easily find this interesting, because it brings out the scandals involved. The effort taken by the author to pull out the strings from history and put to light is truly to be appreciated.

[RITU MAHESHWARI · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little disappointing

Crime Beyond 22 Yards is about the match fixing scandal of the year 2000 which embroiled many South African and Indian cricketers. It shook cricket fraternity and fans equally.

But the author failed to bring out the wholesome scenario behind the match fixing. The book reads more like a collection of newspaper articles and less like a well researched book. It doesn't add any value neither in terms of reading experience nor in terms of enhancing your knowledge regarding the match fixing.

[Dalip Shandil · Rating 3 out of 5]

It Is Indeed Hard To Tell Which Came First From Sourabh Mukherjee Love Beyond 22 Yards Or Crime Beyond 22 Yards. Having Read Both A Few Months Apart, Keeping Personal Tastes Aside And Sticking To Chronicle Order, I Would Hazard A Guess That Love Came Much Before Than Crime Beyond The Proverbial 22 Yards.
Even Though I Have Reviewed The Other Book Separately Last Year, Too Much Had Been Written About Bollywood Stars & Cricket Stars Mingling And Many Even Ending Up Tying The Knot And Living Happily (And Some Not So) Ever After. But In That Case, So Much Had Been Written About That The Book Came Across Like Rereading What Had Been Done Several Times Earlier Thus The Novelty Was Lost.
This Time Around The Crimes Beyond 22 Yards Are Once Again Chronicled Like Those Love Chapters But Were Thankfully Reported Rather Low Key As Also Was The Intensity Thus Reading This Book Is Almost Refreshing As All The Facts Are Compiled Under A Single Roof And It Gives A Feel Of Revisiting A Crime Scene After A Break And Refreshing The Memory.
More Than The Actual Revisiting Of The High Profile Cases That Rocked The Cricketing World And Exposed Many Rotten Apples And Brought Several More Having The Needle Of Suspicion Pointing Towards Them
Glaringly It Is The Investigative Reporting Inbuilt Into The Story Telling That Makes This A Crisp Read Though Many Sports Lovers May Have A déjà vu Feel Haunting This Read Just As Was The Case For Film Lovers While Reading Love Beyond 22 Yards.

[Garima Rathi · Rating 2 out of 5]

The backdrop of this book is the match-fixing racket that shook the world of international cricket in the year 2000 and its aftermath. The story touches upon the cricketers, the bookies, the underworld connections and the legal suits involved in the racket.

The title of the book is really interesting but the book isn’t as appealing as the title. The book is a mere compilation of all the newspaper articles put together. A well-researched and a detailed description of the subject is what makes a non-fiction book worth reading. In this book, the controversies are superficially explained and the depth of the matter is missing.

On certain occasions, the sentence formations depict a half-hearted attempt by the author. The narration lacks excitement. It is rather narrated in a lukewarm manner.

The book is a fairly disappointing read. The book is approximately 50-page in length and it is difficult to summarize the controversies of International cricket within this length. Instead the author could have focused on a particular controversy and presented a detailed research on it.

[Janci Rani · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book highlights the "betting" and "match fixing" crimes and conflicts which took place in the early 90's and are still under mystery.

When the South African skipper Hansie Cronje was accused for match fixing in 2000, no one would have expected that the dark phase beyond 22 yards is going to unveil soon. Cronje, further gives a detailed note about all the bookies involved, the other players who agreed for betting which also comprised of the then Indian skipper Muhammad Azharuddin. Finally, the book winds up with the death of Pakisthani coach Bob Woolmer, whose suspicious untimely death after the loss of Pakistan in World cup 2007 is still clueless.

 The book is written in such a way that everyone will find connectivity with the book (You don't need to be a cricket fanatic). The book also gives a detailed explanation of the difference between "betting" and "match fixing" which helps to maintain coherence throughout the book. The fast paced narration helps the readers to hook up with the book till the end and the lucid language with easy words make it a comfortable read. The authentic details portrays the efforts of the author to bring out an effluent crime thriller book.

The book is comprised of 16 chapters and each chapter is pint sized which makes it an easy read. The book also has some editing and typo errors but it didn't hold back the fast paced story.

The cover gives out the detailed summary of what's the book is all about. The batsman, bundles of money and the background of a ganster- what could be better than this for a cricket thriller?? The title and the blurb gives a deep insight to the story underneath. 

Overall, the book is an amazing portrayal of the crime beyond 22 yards. This is highly recommended to everyone who is inquisitive about the dark phase of cricket.

[Sana Shekh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crime beyond 22 Yards is a perfect amalgamation of two of my favourite genres that is sport and thriller. The author has made a very good attempt in bringing out the reality to the surface regarding the controversy of the cricket world.

The book is all about the dark side of the cricket world . It unveils the reality of the biggest problem of this game that is match fixing. It is about the accusation against South African skipper Hansie Cronje and the series of events which follows it . The book is already a short read so i won't be giving many spoilers.

The cover of the book is catchy and the title is intriguing. I like the narration and the not so complex language of the book . The blurb is crisp and story is fast paced. The thrill element kept me hooked till the end . After reading the first part LOVE BEYOND 22 YARDS , I was expecting this too to be just a collection of facts but I was proved wrong. The way author has framed the complete scenario is worth appreciating.

A must read book for cricket and thriller lovers.

Rating -
4/5

[Adarsh Rathour · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read, Crime beyond 22 is a plot which will make you read till the end without any break. It is the combo of two geners that is sport and thriller. Book is all about the dark side of the cricket world. 'Crime Beyond 22 Yards' is an account of what conspired beyond the 22 yards that tainted the game of cricket forever. Betting & match fixing, thriller, cricket & betting, dark era of cricket, mystery the mixup of brilliant story. The book will reveal many insights of the world of cricket. The scam whose web nabbed many legends of the world of cricket. The book is written in such a way that everyone will find connectivity with the book.


Cover of the book is catchy. The book is a short read and ingaging read. The book is comprised of 16 chapters. I like the narration. The story is fast paced. The best sequel to Love Beyond 22 yards.

[Divya Ramnath Bandodkar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crime Beyond 22 Yards is the second book in Beyond 22 Yards series. I had watched movie 'Azhar' few years ago. I couldn't understand most of the anecdotes from the movie. I always wondered what made up the entire match mixing.

This book gave a real insight into the whole situation. Frankly speaking, I didn't know about Hanse Cronje. I came to know about him only after reading this book. The book is being narrated in third person narrative and is done really well. I loved the research and efforts the author has put in his book.