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1971: The Beginning of India's Cricketing Greatness
1971 was the year that changed Indian cricket forever. Accustomed to seeing a talented but erratic Indian team go from one defeat to another, a stunned cricketing world watched in astonishment as India first beat the West Indies in a Test series on their home turf, and then emerged victorious over England-in England. Suddenly, the Indian team had become a force to reckon with.
Boria Majumdar and Gautam Bhattacharya's book is a thrilling account of the 1971 twin tours, that brings to life the on-field excitement and the backroom drama. Against a canvas that features legends: Pataudi and Wadekar, who captained India to the two sensational series victories abroad; Sardesai, Durani, Viswanath, Engineer, Solkar, Abid Ali; the famed spin quartet of Bedi, Prasanna, Chandrasekhar and Venkataraghavan; and a young batsman named Sunil Gavaskar who was making his debut-it is the tale of a young country ready and eager to make an impression on the world stage.
Fifty years later, this is a wonderful book to relive those glory days with.
Boria Majumdar and Gautam Bhattacharya's book is a thrilling account of the 1971 twin tours, that brings to life the on-field excitement and the backroom drama. Against a canvas that features legends: Pataudi and Wadekar, who captained India to the two sensational series victories abroad; Sardesai, Durani, Viswanath, Engineer, Solkar, Abid Ali; the famed spin quartet of Bedi, Prasanna, Chandrasekhar and Venkataraghavan; and a young batsman named Sunil Gavaskar who was making his debut-it is the tale of a young country ready and eager to make an impression on the world stage.
Fifty years later, this is a wonderful book to relive those glory days with.
296 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 20, 2021
2 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Boria Majumdar
71 books22 followersBoria Majumdar, a Rhodes scholar, is a Research Fellow at La Trobe University, Melbourne. He has taught at the Universities of Chicago and Toronto and has written extensively on the history and politics of cricket in India and across the world. Deputy Executive Academic Editor of the International Journal of History of Sport and Executive Academic Editor of Sport in Society, he is General Editor of the Routledge Series, 'Sport in the Global Society'. Some of his books include Twenty-Two Yards to Freedom: A Social History of Indian Cricket (2004), Goalless: The Story of a Unique Footballing Nation (2006) and The Illustrated History of Indian Cricket (2006).
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 14, 2022
1971 was the first annus mirabilis of Indian cricket much before Kapil's Devils happened. This book tries to effectively document the drama of the series victories in England and West Indies but fails because the authors don the hat of court poets rather than historians. Too many pages are spent on silly BCCI politics and Bhagwat Chandrasekhar's magical Oval spell, which alone deserves an entire chapter, is reduced to few pages. Boria Majumdar's privilege and contacts have allowed him access to every great Indian cricketer but he is yet to get access to the heart of an Indian cricket fan.
June 29, 2021
Frankly I was quite disappointed with this book. Ever since the amazing victory in Australia, much has been said about the only other overseas series win that might compare to the heroics Down Under. And to be fair, the 1971 series wins in West Indies and England are rather impressive. However, in my opinion, this book failed to capture it. It focused a lot on the controversies surrounding indian cricket with a ridiculous amount of focus on BCCI politics. Barely anything about the individual games was even mentioned, let alone descriptions of impressive innings, spells and moments in the game.
September 1, 2025
#Binge Reviewing my previous Reads #Sports #Cricket
1971: The Beginning of India’s Cricketing Greatness by Boria Majumdar and Gautam Bhattacharya is pure nostalgia wrapped in historical gravitas. It isn’t just a book about cricket matches—it’s a story about a nation discovering its sporting self-belief.
For decades, Indian cricket had existed under the long shadows of England and Australia, polite “good tourists” who seldom dared to dream big. But in 1971, everything changed. With two iconic away series wins—against the West Indies and England—India announced itself to the cricketing world.
The beauty of this book lies in how it situates those victories within the broader social and political moment.
India was barely two decades into independence, still trying to carve out its identity, and suddenly here was Ajit Wadekar’s team, gritty and unflinching. At the heart of it all stood a 21-year-old Sunil Gavaskar, curly-haired and unyielding, who scored runs as though destiny had scripted his innings in advance. Around him, a band of spinners—Bedi, Prasanna, Chandrasekhar—wove webs around the best batsmen in the world, while Wadekar’s understated captaincy provided the steel.
The book brings alive these encounters with remarkable detail: Sobers’ charisma in the Caribbean, Illingworth’s stubborn England, the anxious dressing rooms, the roar of the crowd, and the joy swelling in homes across India.
What makes the narrative sparkle is that it’s not just dry reportage of scores and statistics. It’s a chronicle of transformation. Majumdar and Bhattacharya show how those wins reshaped the very psychology of Indian cricket—from hesitant challengers to giant-killers. Through anecdotes, memories, and the players’ own voices, they recreate the raw thrill of that summer of belief. You almost feel yourself transported—hearing the crack of leather on willow, sensing the hush before a spinner’s delivery, and tasting the disbelief turning into jubilation.
For readers who grew up watching Tendulkar, Dravid, Dhoni, or Kohli, this book functions as a time machine.
Before the glitter of the IPL, before the 1983 World Cup fairy tale, before India’s rise to being a cricketing superpower, there was 1971—the crucible in which the backbone of Indian cricket was forged. Without those victories, the golden chapters that followed might never have been written.
In the end, this book is more than sports history. It is part cultural memory, part national coming-of-age tale, and wholly a tribute to the men who dared to dream. If you love cricket not just as a game of numbers but as a saga of courage, identity, and transformation, this book is essential reading.
1971: The Beginning of India’s Cricketing Greatness by Boria Majumdar and Gautam Bhattacharya is pure nostalgia wrapped in historical gravitas. It isn’t just a book about cricket matches—it’s a story about a nation discovering its sporting self-belief.
For decades, Indian cricket had existed under the long shadows of England and Australia, polite “good tourists” who seldom dared to dream big. But in 1971, everything changed. With two iconic away series wins—against the West Indies and England—India announced itself to the cricketing world.
The beauty of this book lies in how it situates those victories within the broader social and political moment.
India was barely two decades into independence, still trying to carve out its identity, and suddenly here was Ajit Wadekar’s team, gritty and unflinching. At the heart of it all stood a 21-year-old Sunil Gavaskar, curly-haired and unyielding, who scored runs as though destiny had scripted his innings in advance. Around him, a band of spinners—Bedi, Prasanna, Chandrasekhar—wove webs around the best batsmen in the world, while Wadekar’s understated captaincy provided the steel.
The book brings alive these encounters with remarkable detail: Sobers’ charisma in the Caribbean, Illingworth’s stubborn England, the anxious dressing rooms, the roar of the crowd, and the joy swelling in homes across India.
What makes the narrative sparkle is that it’s not just dry reportage of scores and statistics. It’s a chronicle of transformation. Majumdar and Bhattacharya show how those wins reshaped the very psychology of Indian cricket—from hesitant challengers to giant-killers. Through anecdotes, memories, and the players’ own voices, they recreate the raw thrill of that summer of belief. You almost feel yourself transported—hearing the crack of leather on willow, sensing the hush before a spinner’s delivery, and tasting the disbelief turning into jubilation.
For readers who grew up watching Tendulkar, Dravid, Dhoni, or Kohli, this book functions as a time machine.
Before the glitter of the IPL, before the 1983 World Cup fairy tale, before India’s rise to being a cricketing superpower, there was 1971—the crucible in which the backbone of Indian cricket was forged. Without those victories, the golden chapters that followed might never have been written.
In the end, this book is more than sports history. It is part cultural memory, part national coming-of-age tale, and wholly a tribute to the men who dared to dream. If you love cricket not just as a game of numbers but as a saga of courage, identity, and transformation, this book is essential reading.
July 26, 2022
An invaluable book for Indian cricket followers. A lot of candid interviews and behind-the-scenes politicking bared.
This was written and perhaps edited in the Covid era, hence the 3 proof-reading errors I spotted could be excused.
Writing style is engaging. This is the fastest I have finished a book in the last few years.
This was written and perhaps edited in the Covid era, hence the 3 proof-reading errors I spotted could be excused.
Writing style is engaging. This is the fastest I have finished a book in the last few years.
September 17, 2024
1971 was a watershed year in Indian cricketing history. The advent of Sunil Gavaskar, and his key role in India's first victory over the West Indies (in a test and series, that too away) was one half of that watershed. The other was India's first series triumph in England -- over a side that had won the Ashes 4-0 in Australia. So this book's title immediately enticed me.
But the book is a thorough disappointment, as it barely describes the great cricketing battles that both test series were -- and instead focuses heavily on the gossipy politics of the BCCI, and particularly the shenanigans around selection. I would have given the book just 2 stars, but the interviews are a redeeming feature. A more skillful pair of authors would have strung the material from the interviews into the nucleus of the book. Here they are barely mentioned in the main text.
There are lots of typos and cricketing errors: for instance India's first overseas series victory (over NZ in Feb-Apr 1968) is repeatedly called the "1967" series. The previous summer's tour to England is called the 1966-67 series, when in reality it was the 1967 series, played entirely in the English summer. And the book frequently refers to Peter "Laver" (but this isn't the Australian tennis player); it should have been "Lever".
Some substantial points emerged for me though. Wadekar was an astute but defensive captain -- not merely a "lucky" one. There was still a West Zone vs the rest of India divide in the side, felt acutely by Jayantilal, Abid Ali and Abbas Ali Baig (all Hyderabad team-mates of MAK Pataudi), but also by the likes of Prasanna and Bedi. The 1974 series loss in England was attributable to extremely unfavourable playing conditions -- restricting onside fielders to 5, thus hamstringing Pras, Venkat and Chandra. These are valuable insights, but they should have been woven into the cricketing stories of the two climactic series, and perhaps a chapter on key series of the past and immediate future (of 1971, not 2021). In the end it is a haphazard and poorly structured book.
But the book is a thorough disappointment, as it barely describes the great cricketing battles that both test series were -- and instead focuses heavily on the gossipy politics of the BCCI, and particularly the shenanigans around selection. I would have given the book just 2 stars, but the interviews are a redeeming feature. A more skillful pair of authors would have strung the material from the interviews into the nucleus of the book. Here they are barely mentioned in the main text.
There are lots of typos and cricketing errors: for instance India's first overseas series victory (over NZ in Feb-Apr 1968) is repeatedly called the "1967" series. The previous summer's tour to England is called the 1966-67 series, when in reality it was the 1967 series, played entirely in the English summer. And the book frequently refers to Peter "Laver" (but this isn't the Australian tennis player); it should have been "Lever".
Some substantial points emerged for me though. Wadekar was an astute but defensive captain -- not merely a "lucky" one. There was still a West Zone vs the rest of India divide in the side, felt acutely by Jayantilal, Abid Ali and Abbas Ali Baig (all Hyderabad team-mates of MAK Pataudi), but also by the likes of Prasanna and Bedi. The 1974 series loss in England was attributable to extremely unfavourable playing conditions -- restricting onside fielders to 5, thus hamstringing Pras, Venkat and Chandra. These are valuable insights, but they should have been woven into the cricketing stories of the two climactic series, and perhaps a chapter on key series of the past and immediate future (of 1971, not 2021). In the end it is a haphazard and poorly structured book.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews