Book Review – White on Green, Richard Heller and Peter Oborne

The first time I had an introduction to Pakistan’s cricket team was when my childhood street cricket buddy told me that there is an Indian playing for Pakistan’s cricket team and his name was Ramesh Raja, an obvious misunderstanding about Ramiz Raja. He also told me about the ongoing talks to merge the cricket teams of Indian and Pakistan. I started eagerly watching whatever snippets of cricket I could of that country, mostly from Sharjah and started imitating the bowling actions of greats like Waqar (Younis) and Wasim (Akram), being an ambidextrous player myself. Imagine the batting might of Sachin and Kambli combined with the bowling prowess of those two Ws!

 

But then I grew up and reality dawned. I became aware of the deep hostility prevailing between the two nations and our history. Forget about uniting the teams, they were not even allowed to meet on the field sans unnecessary drama. But my fascination for their bowlers stayed on and I continued trying to imitate their bowling actions.

As the reader in me matured I became interested in learning the history of the world, mainly about our neighbours. Having understood their political history and their policy of fostering hatred as modus vivendi, I moved on to the other aspects like music and religious senses. With religion and music being some other aspects that fascinated me, an understanding of their cricketing history remained elusive for a long time. This book has fulfilled that desire now.

This is not the most elaborate history of cricket in Pakistan, but this is for sure an interesting insight into their many cricketing icons. Like their religion and art, Pakistan’s cricket also owes a lot to India, with many of their early iconic players hailing from India and having moved their during the tragedy of Partition. Starting with Prince Aslam Khan, who was a prince for real and who held on to his cavalier lifestyle both on and off the field and ending with the contemporary greats of Misbah and Younis Khan, the book covers a wide array of personalities that enthralled the crowds and global media both on and off the field. You get to learn how the sport grew in that country and united or divided people. One also gets a sad diminishing of worthy infrastructure and opportunities that once churned out prodigies every now and then. The use of cricket as a pawn in geo-politics as well as the exile of Pakistan from global cricket due to a heinous terror attack have also been well elucidated.

 There are some issues with the book though. Considering the book was written in 2016 I cannot understand omission of greats like Imran Khan or the bowling duo of Waqar or Wasim, people who helped Pakistan shine for many years. Also, I don’t understand the bitterness of the authors whenever they make a reference to India, either in terms of politics or cricket in some places. Considering both the authors are Britishers I can’t mark it as anything other than opportunistic writing catering to the gallery of Pakistan audience.

One thing is for sure. The book is interesting and informative. It once again reaffirms my belief, that despite being divided by language, religion and politics, we are, after all, deep down ordinary humans, sharing the same set of beliefs, hopes, fears and dreams. A nice read if you can keep away your prejudice, unlike the authors and their subjects!

(c) Ashok Krishna