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You Must Like Cricket?
Soumya Bhattacharya has a steady job, a loving wife, a daughter he dotes on. But most of all he has cricket. Or perhaps more cricket has him. This is a tour of the soul of a cricket obsessive and how one game has become so closely tied to a nation’s identity.
240 pages, Paperback
First published July 20, 2006
About the author
Soumya Bhattacharya
15 books4 followersBorn in Kolkata, Bhattacharya grew up and studied in Kolkata and London. As a journalist, he has worked on The Times (London), The Sydney Morning Herald, India Today magazine (New Delhi), The Telegraph (Kolkata) and the Hindustan Times. He is currently the Editor of Hindustan Times, Mumbai.
His essays and literary criticism have appeared in a number of publications across the world, including The Guardian, The Observer, The Independent, New Statesman, "Granta" and Wisden in Britain; The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald in Australia; Sports Illustrated in South Africa; and The New York Times.
Bhattacharya's first book, a work of narrative non-fiction called You Must Like Cricket?, was published across the world to critical acclaim in 2006. Part reportage, part travelogue, part cultural politics, You Must Like Cricket? is a memoir that explores how India's identity got so closely tied to a game and the troubling hold that cricket has over him and a billion other of his countrymen.
Writing about the book in The Guardian (London), the cultural critic Mike Marqusee called it 'highly entertaining' and said it was an 'heir to a tradition harking back to cricket's first literary classic, John Nyren's The Cricketers of My Time, published in 1833.' You Must Like Cricket? was one of the notable books of the year for the award-winning Observer Sport Monthly magazine in the UK.
All That You Can't Leave Behind, Bhattacharya's second book, was a sort of sequel to You Must Like Cricket?It was published in India in 2009, and in the UK in 2011. Historian Ramachandra Guha called it 'a vivid and empathetic account of the highs an lows of cricket watching in contemporary India'. Writing about it, author and columnist Peter Roebuck said: 'Combining personal touches, socio-economics, emotion and statistics... it is a rich tale told with the sentiment of a supporter and acumen of a historian'.
Bhattacharya's third book (and first novel), If I Could Tell You, appeared almost simultaneously with All That You Can't Leave Behind in December 2009. A haunting and tender novel, If I Could Tell You has at its heart the universal themes of longing, love and loss. Written in prose of beauty and power, it is a story about how luck and chance and a twist in events can irrevocably alter our lives, how love can lead to catastrophe, and, ultimately, about how the new India can make - and then break - a man. Greeted by several glowing reviews, the novel entered India's national bestsellers list on publication. It was nominated for the Crossword Book Award, and shortlisted for The Hindu Best Fiction Award. The author Vikram Chandra wrote of it: 'This is a remarkable novel by a writer whose work we will read for years to come.'
He is most recently the author of the fatherhood memoir, "Dad's the Word".
Bhattacharya lives with his wife and daughter in Mumbai.
His essays and literary criticism have appeared in a number of publications across the world, including The Guardian, The Observer, The Independent, New Statesman, "Granta" and Wisden in Britain; The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald in Australia; Sports Illustrated in South Africa; and The New York Times.
Bhattacharya's first book, a work of narrative non-fiction called You Must Like Cricket?, was published across the world to critical acclaim in 2006. Part reportage, part travelogue, part cultural politics, You Must Like Cricket? is a memoir that explores how India's identity got so closely tied to a game and the troubling hold that cricket has over him and a billion other of his countrymen.
Writing about the book in The Guardian (London), the cultural critic Mike Marqusee called it 'highly entertaining' and said it was an 'heir to a tradition harking back to cricket's first literary classic, John Nyren's The Cricketers of My Time, published in 1833.' You Must Like Cricket? was one of the notable books of the year for the award-winning Observer Sport Monthly magazine in the UK.
All That You Can't Leave Behind, Bhattacharya's second book, was a sort of sequel to You Must Like Cricket?It was published in India in 2009, and in the UK in 2011. Historian Ramachandra Guha called it 'a vivid and empathetic account of the highs an lows of cricket watching in contemporary India'. Writing about it, author and columnist Peter Roebuck said: 'Combining personal touches, socio-economics, emotion and statistics... it is a rich tale told with the sentiment of a supporter and acumen of a historian'.
Bhattacharya's third book (and first novel), If I Could Tell You, appeared almost simultaneously with All That You Can't Leave Behind in December 2009. A haunting and tender novel, If I Could Tell You has at its heart the universal themes of longing, love and loss. Written in prose of beauty and power, it is a story about how luck and chance and a twist in events can irrevocably alter our lives, how love can lead to catastrophe, and, ultimately, about how the new India can make - and then break - a man. Greeted by several glowing reviews, the novel entered India's national bestsellers list on publication. It was nominated for the Crossword Book Award, and shortlisted for The Hindu Best Fiction Award. The author Vikram Chandra wrote of it: 'This is a remarkable novel by a writer whose work we will read for years to come.'
He is most recently the author of the fatherhood memoir, "Dad's the Word".
Bhattacharya lives with his wife and daughter in Mumbai.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 6, 2016
One of the best anecdotes i have gone through. So many memories, yet so vivid
March 18, 2019
3.5/5 One of the greatest joys of reading books on Indian cricket is to relive some of Indian cricket team's most memorable performances. And if a sports fan (and not a cricketer) is writing such a book, it is like having a passionate conversation and comparison of passions for the game with another fan.
As a child, I used to get up at 3 a.m. to watch 2 good teams playing each other in NZ. As an adult, I wake-up at 3 a.m. for some India matches. But the author is a true fanatic who has to follow "Pakistan vs Holland" right past midnight or mark hand-written scoresheets in this age for "Namibia vs Holland". And in what reminded me of that fantastic "Men Will be Men" Ad in which the husband forgot the name of his wife, the author remembers his daughter's birthday by associating it with one of India's matches.
From watching cricket in Eden Gardens, to a work-cricket balance, or the utter madness of burning effigies, the 10 chapters cover a lot of aspects of following the game. And in particular, the train incident was hilarious :- Aggressive youngsters force the author and co. out of their reserved seats. Only to discover that none of them has a radio and the author's group has one. And so, the unreserved guys become friendly to listen to the cricket commentary with some of them even sitting on the floor. :)
As a child, I used to get up at 3 a.m. to watch 2 good teams playing each other in NZ. As an adult, I wake-up at 3 a.m. for some India matches. But the author is a true fanatic who has to follow "Pakistan vs Holland" right past midnight or mark hand-written scoresheets in this age for "Namibia vs Holland". And in what reminded me of that fantastic "Men Will be Men" Ad in which the husband forgot the name of his wife, the author remembers his daughter's birthday by associating it with one of India's matches.
From watching cricket in Eden Gardens, to a work-cricket balance, or the utter madness of burning effigies, the 10 chapters cover a lot of aspects of following the game. And in particular, the train incident was hilarious :- Aggressive youngsters force the author and co. out of their reserved seats. Only to discover that none of them has a radio and the author's group has one. And so, the unreserved guys become friendly to listen to the cricket commentary with some of them even sitting on the floor. :)
October 18, 2014
Look at the title. Sort of a no-brainer, really. If you're from India, then you must like cricket. There might be a remote possibility that your parents do not want you to go to IIT, that your relatives don't think sex is taboo, that you think peeing in the open is not proper... All those are possibilities.
But not liking cricket? Oh dear, oh dear, that is just not possible. If you're Indian, then you're born with it, then it's built into your genes - you must like cricket... No... LOVE cricket. This book is a fantastic tribute to the Indian cricket fan, who will brave all odds to watch a game. Who will stand in line, risking the cops, heat and drunk fans for a glimpse of their heroes. From the corporate executive who pumps his fist when he reads on Cricinfo's commentary that another wicket has fallen (when he should have been tracking his stocks), or the entire village cramped around one small radio going bonkers for the same. Back to this book now.
Bhattacharya outlines the life of a cricket fan who has done things as insane as using up his life savings to fly from college in the UK to Kolkata (then Calcutta), only to see Anil Kumble take 6 for 12. A person whose wife has resigned herself to the fate that her husband is a certified cricket nut - who delays her doctor's meeting just so he can watch a re-re-telecast of a match.
Being an upper-class NRI return, Soumya was one of the fortunate few to have a TV at home in his home in Bengal, a few miles from Calcutta. The highlight of the book is how half the village's kids were cramped into his home to watch the final of the 1983 World Cup final. At every stage in the book, at some point or the other, a cricket fan can relate. Even if the examples are not as extreme, you can relate to the passion, the madness and the look of bewilderment on others' faces.
Who should buy this book? Cricket-mad males whose wives complain. Because Soumya outlines a worst-case scenario. To the tune of drawing graphs on random sheets while following a match, and trying to explain to the in-laws what he was upto. Surely, your scenario can't be worse than that. Get one for your wife (assuming you're male) or read it yourself (assuming you're female) to see how you / your husband is better off. Of course, if you're a cricket-crazy female yourself, then you might as well just shut the book and sit with your husband and watch the game, and gift the book to the neighbours who shouldn't be minding late night West Indies matches and early morning Australia matches. It's a very light read, and you can finish it in an hour - perfect for a train journey, or just after watching a good game!
But not liking cricket? Oh dear, oh dear, that is just not possible. If you're Indian, then you're born with it, then it's built into your genes - you must like cricket... No... LOVE cricket. This book is a fantastic tribute to the Indian cricket fan, who will brave all odds to watch a game. Who will stand in line, risking the cops, heat and drunk fans for a glimpse of their heroes. From the corporate executive who pumps his fist when he reads on Cricinfo's commentary that another wicket has fallen (when he should have been tracking his stocks), or the entire village cramped around one small radio going bonkers for the same. Back to this book now.
Bhattacharya outlines the life of a cricket fan who has done things as insane as using up his life savings to fly from college in the UK to Kolkata (then Calcutta), only to see Anil Kumble take 6 for 12. A person whose wife has resigned herself to the fate that her husband is a certified cricket nut - who delays her doctor's meeting just so he can watch a re-re-telecast of a match.
Being an upper-class NRI return, Soumya was one of the fortunate few to have a TV at home in his home in Bengal, a few miles from Calcutta. The highlight of the book is how half the village's kids were cramped into his home to watch the final of the 1983 World Cup final. At every stage in the book, at some point or the other, a cricket fan can relate. Even if the examples are not as extreme, you can relate to the passion, the madness and the look of bewilderment on others' faces.
Who should buy this book? Cricket-mad males whose wives complain. Because Soumya outlines a worst-case scenario. To the tune of drawing graphs on random sheets while following a match, and trying to explain to the in-laws what he was upto. Surely, your scenario can't be worse than that. Get one for your wife (assuming you're male) or read it yourself (assuming you're female) to see how you / your husband is better off. Of course, if you're a cricket-crazy female yourself, then you might as well just shut the book and sit with your husband and watch the game, and gift the book to the neighbours who shouldn't be minding late night West Indies matches and early morning Australia matches. It's a very light read, and you can finish it in an hour - perfect for a train journey, or just after watching a good game!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews