Since the author has been actively involved in cricket as a commentator for nearly half-a-century, he got an opportunity to explore avenues beyond the accepted norms. When Dr. Heiner Gillmeister, a Professor at the University of Bonn in Germany came up with a theory that cricket is a game of Flemish origin played in the County of Philanders, it took the author to his childhood game of Gulli Danda. It aroused in him an insatiable hunger to delve deep and find out other indigenous games akin to the primitive game of cricket played by the Philanders. Going through the life of Lord Krishna, the author came to know of a game Kanduka Krida played in Vrindavan by the shepherds with Krishna. A thorough research, substantiated by relevant quotes from the scriptures, helped the author establish the similarity between Kanduka Krida and archaic cricket.
The analogy in the book that Sanjaya of Mahabharata was the first commentator of the world at Kurukshetra, describing the events with the help of his celestial vision which the author equates with the lens of the television camera. Indian mythology again finds place in cricket where the author finds a distinct functional similarity between the Third Eye of Lord Shiva and the Third Umpire of cricket. It is a unique book which acknowledges that Indian scriptures are a storehouse of vast unexplored knowledge.
About the Author
Prof. Ravi Chaturvedi is a jack of all trades and master of many as well. A Zoology teacher of standing, a devoted wildlife conservationist, an acclaimed sports journalist and a pioneer Hindi cricket commentator who was instrumental in introducing Vernacular cricket commentary. This revolutionary spark paved the way for the beginning of the Urdu, Sinhala and Bangla cricket commentary in our neighbouring countries. It also proved a beacon of light for sports commentaries in regional languages.
Having spent nearly 50 years covering cricket, both for electronic and print media at home and from abroad, Prof. Chaturvedi has authored 23 interesting cricket books and has contributed to many dailies and periodicals. His writings have also featured in the iconic Cricketers’ Almanack Wisden. Through his writings, he has promoted cricket in countries needing support- Bhutan, Kuwait, Hawaii, Maldives, Malaysia and Singapore. Besides being a popular teacher of Zoology; and a prominent speaker on cricket in the electronic media, he even delved into the virgin field of cricket in Indian mythology. The author has adopted multidisciplinary approach to unravel several fascinating facets of knowledge enshrined in the ancient Indian scriptures. The book hopes to quench the thirst of sports lovers looking for other dimensions of sports. His multifarious contribution received recognition when he was conferred the national award of Padma Shri in 2012 as the pioneer Hindi commentator in the field of cricket commentary.
Loading...
