Easy Singles

What happens instead is that the bar is lowered, the advance amount raised and the floodgates opened for quickie journalism. And that, unfortunately, is the path Rahul Bhattacharya has followed. A writer of no mean talent, Bhattacharya has opted for the easy single, taken in a hurry, rather than wait to play that one exquisite cover drive that will fetch him a boundary.

India8217;s tour of Pakistan last year was historic for many reasons, including the fact that as much history was made off the field as on it. The tourists prevailed on the field, with series wins in both the Tests and one-day matches. Off it, the people of Pakistan with their spontaneous show of unstinting warmth and generosity won hands down. The series offered scenes such as we never thought we would witness in our lifetime, and certainly not after the bitter chill of just two years before. The presence of Rahul and Priyanka in Karachi, of Dina Wadia in Lahore; the sight of the Tricolour and the banners being waved side by side, of fans with both flags painted on their faces8230;

Enough fodder, then, for several books. But here8217;s the catch: much of this was written about 8212; extensively 8212; last year itself, as the Indian media descended en masse on a waiting, expectant Pakistan. Ergo, a book on the tour a year after needed to go beyond the boundary, as it were, to offer something new. And here8217;s where Bhattacharya has failed to deliver.

Much of his book 8212; 152 out of 292 pages 8212; is devoted to match reports which, though well-written, make for heavy reading. And that8217;s not including the pre- and post-match write-ups. Bhattacharya probably thought topicality 8212;the current series, around which the book has been launched 8212; would make the reports seem relevant. But every series has its own moments 8212; in just the past week we8217;ve seen, on live TV, Dravid8217;s superlative effort in Kolkata, Bucknor vs Tendulkar all over again, Harbhajan being called, the Eden Gardens jinx being broken. A description of Sehwag8217;s triple century doesn8217;can8217;t hold a candle to this.

Where the book does score is in its look at the peculiarities of cricket in Pakistan. Aaquib Javed taking you on a guided tour through the magic-potion world of Pakistani pace bowling, from Imran8217;s Godfather-like unearthing of talent to the role of beef-eating in the finished article. Andy Atkinson, pitch doctor par excellence, on being the perennial fall guy. Most fascinatingly, the untiring, though quixotic, efforts of Ansar Mehmood Bajwa, a lawyer specialising in PILs against cricketers and administrators.

In these vignettes, untouched by the compressed space of a TV soundbite or the immediacy of a pressing newspaper deadline, lies the reward of six hard, hot, heady weeks in a country at once so familiar and so alien. Bhattacharya8217;s offering is at best an appetiser; not near enough to feast on but whetting the appetite for more.