Hamare Kaptan: Nayudu Se Dhoni Tak

People always look for inspiration when faced with any challenge. When people seek inspiration, what they are often really seeking is hope. When we hear about leadership the one thing we hear all Leaders do in common is provide hope. As Napoleon Bonaparte once said “A Leader is a Dealer in Hope”.

That certainly seems to have been the key message to the “young guns” of Indian cricket and the central theme of the latest book on Indian cricket authored by Prof. Suryaprakash Chaturvedi titled Hamare Kaptan – Nayudu se Dhoni Tak which was released at the hands of Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag at a recent book release function held in Delhi.

“It is nice to see that books are being written on our past heroes. It will help the current generation to know about our former greats,” Sehwag said, speaking at the function just before the start of the recently concluded India-Australia cricket series.

Praising the book, the “Sultan of Multan” Shewag said he would share the information provided in the book with all his team-mates and maybe even gift the book to Dhoni.

Whether Shewag did pass on a copy of the book to captain Dhoni and his boys is another matter but if India’s emphatic win over Australia in both the Tests and ODIs is anything to go by, then the leadership qualities of captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni enumerated in the book were certainly illustrated on the field throughout the series.

Prof. Chaturvedi’s books on cricket offers a different perspective to readers and cricket followers by reflecting on the heroics of the past. The narrative of Hamare Kaptan feels like cricket folklore being told by an academician who is passionate about the subject and has spent a lot of time in research studying the game, the matches and its leading personalities.

Hamre Kaptan gives readers information in the form of tales and incidences from the lives of all the captains to have led India on the cricket field right from Capt. C.K Nayudu through to Mahendra Singh Dhoni, analysing their strengths and weaknesses and highlighting their success and failures.

His book achieves where others fail and it does so by providing insights which inspires. Acknowledging the need to preserve the history of the game, Shewag said “Books like this will help us understand our cricketing past better.

“We would certainly want to know how our former captains led the teams, what were their tactics, how they batted, bowled.”

Fielding questions by the media about the format of the game, the opener defended Test cricket.

“There used to be so many draws in Test matches that would keep the crowds away but things have changed. We are getting more and more results in Test cricket and even a target of 350 can be chased in a day in a Test match.

“Cricket has not changed. A few innovations have come to make it more attractive,” he was quoted to have said.

If that wasn’t enough the quality of cricket played by both sides during the series especially by India in the two test matches confirmed that the longer version of the game only got more competitive and even more exciting.

Speaking at the book release, Prof. Chaturvedi briefly reflected on the association of former New Zealand cricketer John Wright as the coach and his relationship with Saurav Ganguly as the captain of the Indian cricket team.

“What makes a good captain is not just one particular quality but a combination of a set of skills and ability. Whilst individual cricketing skills are a pre-requisite, courage to challenge and confront challenges, ability to take calculated risks, mental and physical fitness and a faculty to play the opposition out is what makes a cricketer a successful captain” he said summing up his book.

Suryaprakash Chaturvedi is a former academician and cricket administrator turned author. He began writing on the game covering matches for leading newspapers in India and has since then authored nine books on cricket in Hindi. The more popular among these to have also been published in English include India and World Cricket and Some Great All-Rounders which also features chapters on cricket in New Zealand and cricket hall of fame inductee Sir Richard Hadlee.

* Prof. Chaturvedi’s books will be soon available in New Zealand. For further details please contact Girish Anantharaman, M: 021 029 47194, email: garyraman@hotmail.com