A day before the launch of his much talked-about book, I meet commentator and journalist Boria Majumdar to talk about his latest offering to the world of cricket. An excited Majumdar tells me that the matter in the book has been in his mind for the last two decades. Going behind the scenes of India’s most popular sport, getting his sources to open up without losing their trust, weaving together personal interviews, photographs and letters, Majumdar offers a compelling read.
Excerpts:
There are various layers to your persona — you are a historian, a sports journalist and a consulting editor, one of India’s most influential commentators and you have taught, researched and written books. Which of these roles are you most passionate about?
I am still most passionate about my persona as a sports fan. I derive pure, unadulterated joy from watching and reading [about] sports. And here I mean all [kinds of] sport. Cricket and every other form of Olympic sport. When I feel depressed, for example, I watch sports. When I feel elated, again I watch sports. I know it makes me a unidimensional and somewhat boring person but that’s the real me. Each of the other avatars you mention is linked to me as a professional and I try and do all of them well to the best of my ability but [I get] joy from watching sport as a sports fan.
Tell us a bit about Eleven Gods and A Billion Indians. How would you like to look back at the creative process of this book? What were the challenges you faced?
The most important challenge was in trying to convince myself. To be able to convince myself that I needed to be open. As open as one can possibly be to tell the real story. Not be politically correct. I knew it would ruffle feathers, break stereotypes, shatter ago-old impressions but the point is one needed to write the real story. Be as objective as possible. Again, when you write about the contemporary, you ask yourself how is your narrative different from what is already known? Do you know the backstage in a manner that your reader will find appealing? I started writing two years back and in terms of research, this has been with me for a decade and more.
The book has material that has never entered the public domain before. You have gone behind-the-scenes of cases like the Monkeygate, the suspension of Lalit Modi, match-fixing and the phase of judicial intervention. Did your training as a reporter or researcher help you? Or is it because of the relationships you have developed in the world of cricket that helped you access the explosive material?
Both. I needed to go backstage to be able to write what I have. And that isn’t possible without the network, the confidence of people and of course the knowledge and research, which my academic training has given me. The real Indian cricket story is a mesh between the on and off field and you need to go backstage to unravel this story. I have tried to do that in Eleven Gods and a Billion Indians.
How tough was it to get players to open up and talk about moments they had never discussed with anyone else? Did it take a lot of behind-the-door conversations, or years of following the conversations at the dressing room, or just plain trust?
Absolutely. You need to have a player’s trust for him to open up. Be totally transparent about what happened. He needs to know you are not going to sensationalise stuff, that you will be objective and document the real story. It has taken years and years of effort and work to be able to put together the narrative. The backstage isn’t easy to access and that is the real strength of the book.
Your first book, Twenty Two Yards To Freedom: A Social History Of Indian Cricket, was published in 2004. Since then, has your outlook towards the sport changed?
Twenty Two Yards To Freedom is an academic book. It is basically my PhD made into a book. Eleven Gods and a Billion Indians is the real history of Indian cricket. As real as it can be. I have evolved just like anyone else would have. I know academic knowledge isn’t enough to document the real story. I also know you need academic knowledge to be able to write the complete story. I have that unique position where I have both. And I have tried to make use of both.
You haven’t played the sport as much as you have passionately researched and written about it. Did you ever want to play the game at the highest level? In the epilogue of your book, you write about that feeling: “No one would recognise me as a player… and that’s what I wanted to do. Go play.” Do you regret that you haven’t played enough cricket?
Now I don’t. This is my legacy, I am a chronicler and I think I have a role that is as important or as challenging. But yes, I wanted to play, loved to play and feel that elusive sensation of standing in the middle [of the ground] with the national anthem playing is something I would want to experience in my next life if there is one. For the moment I am happy analysing what it means to stand out there from the media box.
While there are the eleven players on the field, there are several unsung heroes in Indian cricket who have preferred to stay off the field. Would you like to talk about a few?
I don’t think they are unsung anymore. They have the IPL, domestic cricket and can still be known and be famous. As administrators, broadcasters, media, you have a role to play in this humungous cricket industry. I feel each of these men and women are key to the story and I have a problem with the word unsung. Tendulkar may have scored 100 centuries but the candy-seller I talk about is also a key element in my story. She too has a role and while she doesn’t have a fan following, she does have some loyal clients. I am one. I want to celebrate them all.
Tell us about your meeting with Lalit Modi in London to discuss the IPL? Next year, UAE could possibly host the IPL. What are your thoughts about this?
I will go back to Eleven Gods and a Billion Indians to describe Lalit Modi for you.
“(On the eve of his suspension) Modi flew into the stadium in a helicopter with a smile on his face, looking radiant and confident. The battle wasn’t over yet. In a speech full of sentiment, he went on to say: ‘As the Bhagavad Gita says, “Fear not what is not real, never was and never will be. What is real, always was and cannot be destroyed.” All I wanted is to leave a small footprint in the glorious history of the game, I thank my family, my children who have stood by me through the trying times all these years and continuously stay with me; I take my strength from them. My final thank you is to you, the fans all over the world. We missed you last year in India and it’s wonderful to be back home. It’s your passion and this is the reason we built the IPL; it’s your passion that sustains us, your passion that enriches us, this is not the Indian Premier League, it’s the Indian People League. I humbly dedicate my dream to all the people in this country. Thank you.’
The Modi who took the stage that evening was very different to the one the world had come to know — a Modi who knew he was saying a final thank you but wasn’t willingly doing so. He never would. In his mind, he had done no wrong. He was philosophical and sarcastic, belligerent and passionate. He had created India’s only global sports brand and no one could take it away from him. Modi is no longer there in the system; rather, he was pushed out of it, if we make no bones about being politically incorrect. However, during the process, he made a few things clear in the most inimitable manner — that the IPL was his creation, and will forever be. He was chairman and boss. The only czar.
UAE is a serious market for cricket and in the past as well it has played host to the IPL. The facilities are world class and given the cosmopolitan nature of the population, there will be serious takers for the tournament in the UAE. Also, television times won’t be that much different compared to what we have in India and that’s something the broadcasters would absolutely love.
With Dubai gearing up to host the Asia Cup this year, do you think the emirate is now a preferred destination for cricket?
Why now? For a while it has been. Pakistan has played its home games in the Emirate. As I said, the facilities are world class and with India-Pakistan playing for the first time since the Champions Trophy, the story of cricket [here] will turn a new leaf with the Asia cup.
Dubai has also been the training ground for other sports. For example, tennis. As a sport historian, how do you see the emirate developing as a global sports hub?
Dubai has incredible sports facilities and the Dubai Sports City is just one example. There is the ICC academy as well. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is a hugely popular sports competition. Shooting and horse racing are two sports well established in Dubai. Football too is very popular. In essence, it is a sports hub and this can only augur well for global sport.
Tell us a bit about the personalities of some of the players you have closely watched over the years — Sourav Ganguly, Virat Kohli, Anil Kumble, MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar...
This question is a book in itself, tough to describe in an answer. But Ganguly for example is an introvert and real simpleton who had to put on the persona of being tough to transform the Indian team. Tendulkar is the most hardworking man I know, [he] leaves nothing to chance. Virat Kohli’s commitment to the game and to fitness is incredible. A real genius.
