*The Great Tamasha*

The author is James Astill and the subtitle is Cricket, Corruption, and the Spectacular Rise of Modern India.  This is an excellent book on India even if you, like I, have no real understanding of cricket.  Here are a few bits:

According to an analysis by Richard Cashman of the 143 Indians who played Test cricket up to 1979, half had a college degree, compared to 1 or 2 per cent of Indians as a whole.

And:

Cricket is now ubiquitous on Indian television.  It is shown constantly on 16 sports channels and relentlessly discussed on over 100 news channels.

And quoting Ashis Nandy:

“Cricket is an Indian game accidentally discovered by the English.”

Recommended.

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