3 Review(s)

Eleven Gods and a Billion Indians goes deep into every Indian cricket tour since 1886—taking the reader backstage to when India played its first test in 1932, and bringing the story forward to the more contemporary IPL—to provide a complex and nuanced understanding of the evolution and maturity of the game. Equally, it comes with material that has have never entered the public domain so far—going behind the scenes of cases like Monkeygate, the suspension of Lalit Modi, spot-fixing, and the phase of judicial intervention. It carries not just reportage and analysis, but also player reminiscences, personal interviews, photographs and letters never known or discussed so far in Indian sporting discourse. Weaving together such material, Eleven Gods and a Billion Indians unflinchingly confronts questions that demand answering, among them: Has internal bickering impacted the on field performance of the Indian cricket team? Did some of our icons fail the country and the sport by trying to conceal important facts during the spot-fixing investigation? And does it matter to the ordinary fan who heads the BCCI as long as there is transparency and accountability in the system? In the end, in telling the story of the role of cricket in colonial and post-colonial Indian life, and the inter-relationship between those who patronize, promote, play and view the sport. Eleven Gods and a Billion Indians unravels the story of a nation now considered the financial nerve centre of world cricket. Full of reportage, history, trivia and anecdotes told in an effortless style, Boria Majumdar’s 450-page Eleven Gods and a Billion Indians is a eulogy celebrating Indian cricket, its cricketers and the billion or so people who follow it. – Hindustan Times This book is a fascinating exploration of India’s national obsession, packed with revealing fly-on-the-wall accounts from inside dressing rooms and the corridors of power where decisions on Indian cricket are made. – The Times of India This is recommended reading for all Indian cricket lovers. – DNA Boria Majumdar's Eleven Gods and a Billion Indians - the on and off the field story of cricket in India and beyond, reconstructs and aims at deconstructing the crux moments in India's rich, even if at times flawed, cricketing history. - Cricbuzz