3 Review(s)

For a while, India's women cricketers were the most talked-about, the most keenly followed and the most vociferously encouraged in the country. Skipper Mithali Raj and her team were willed into the final of the World Cup by a nation that found a new favourite team. In its sixth edition, Wisden India Almanack records that team's progress. Karunya Keshav, who reported on the World Cup finds that women's cricket is more inclusive; the men's game has some catching up to do.In a season when Virat Kohli's men became the No. 1 team in two of the three formats, Indian cricket's second home continued to be the Supreme Court. Yet, the court's July 2016 rulings were mainly ignored by officials keen on marking time till some miracle allowed them to get back to their old ways. Both versions of the game - on the pitch and in the courts - are analysed in detail here. Sharda Ugra asks a crucial question: Who runs Indian cricket? Today's satire is often tomorrow's reality. Lawrence Booth lets his imagination roam: Is it possible that a 15-year-old might never have actually seen a forward defensive stroke? And just how much power will Shah Rukh Khan wield? All will be revealed in the 2028 edition of this Almanack.A decade of the IPL has made millionaires of men, and not just the players. It has also upset diurnal rhythms. Former IPL player and current television commentator Aakash Chopra's four-year old's question puts the disruption into perspective. "Dad, will you come to my house for five minutes some day?" she once asked him.The IPL has had its good years and bad years, court cases and police cases; it has also changed the way cricket is consumed. "Like a good batsman, the BCCI de-risked itself and deected potential danger to the teams," writes Amrit Mathur.While Simon Barnes explains why India need Pakistan (and vice versa), Ian Chappell pays a tribute to the greatest, his old rival and friend Garry Sobers. Novelist Shehan Karunatilaka puts Sri Lanka cricket in perspective. Bhagwat Chandrasekhar provides a glimpse into the mind of "older brother" Erapalli Prasanna.Samanth Subramaniam reconnects with an old feeling. Half a century after the match, he recreates a Mumbai-Tamil Nadu nal which the latter lost. "So routinely do we, who languish in hope, suer this heartbreak that the tragedy is now leavened with a sort of mordant comedy," he writes.Also, in its guise as the revealer of mysteries, this edition discloses why a job application as coach of Yorkshire was rejected by that county. It might have been ageism.