Review of Amrit Mathur’s Pitchside — My Life in Indian Cricket: Inside the dressing room

Amrit Mathur's book, Pitchside: My Life in Indian Cricket, dives into the nuts and bolts of Indian cricket. Mathur reveals the wheels that grease cricket, and provides snapshots of players, understanding their vulnerabilities. He throws light on their important attributes and takes readers close to behind-the-scenes episodes that have guided Indian cricket.

Ecstasy and agony on the turf may be sport’s essential codes but a lot more happens behind closed doors. Administrators, coaches, bureaucrats, government agencies and corporates are all enmeshed within the veins of any athletic endeavour. Amrit Mathur, civil servant-turned-sports manager, has seen it all for more than three decades through his association with Indian cricket and his book Pitchside: My Life in Indian Cricket dives into the nuts and bolts of the nation’s favourite sporting pastime. The author doesn’t exactly give a chronological tale but cherry-picks specific tournaments and tours in which he was linked with the Indian team.

He looks at India’s maiden tour of South Africa during the 1992-93 season, the 1996 World Cup in the Indian subcontinent, the 2004 tour of Pakistan and other signposts with the perspective of an insider. The characters range from cricketers to politicians but this isn’t an essay in name-dropping as Mathur keeps his eye firmly on his subjects. “I saw the monotony of long tours and the boring hotel-airport-gym-ground routine,” he writes, and later adds: “This is the story of Indian players.”

Mathur reveals the wheels that grease cricket. The tone is both factual and warm while the logistical headaches associated with big championships or an important tour are described well. Equally he keeps readers engaged with his snapshots of players. Privy to dressing rooms, Mathur is aware about the vulnerabilities of cricketers. There is respect for their skills and an understanding about what makes them tick or crack.

Be it Imran Khan or Sachin Tendulkar, Mathur throws light on their important attributes. There are strong words about former IPL chief Lalit Modi but this isn’t a book venting anger; it remains primarily a mirror to the significant points in cricket. There is a rare error when Mathur refers to M.S. Dhoni’s Balidaan logo issue around his gloves but juxtaposes it with the Champions Trophy when it actually happened during the 2019 World Cup. It is a minor blip in a book that takes you close to behind-the-scenes episodes that have guided Indian cricket.

Pitchside: My Life in Indian Cricket; Amrit Mathur, Westland Sport, ₹699.

vijayakumar.kc@thehindu.co.in