Wounded Tiger: A History of Cricket in Pakistan

One of the best books ever written on Pakistan Cricket. Peter Oborne starts by saying and I paraphrase that most of the books written about Pakistan and its Cricket are by foreigners who do not like Pakistan, Peter Oborne is obviously not one of them because he loves the country and has visited dozens of times. He went not only to all the major cricketing centers like Lahore and Karachi but also close to the Afghan border and Swat valley. Once you pick up this book it will be really hard to put it down. During his journey, in addition to conducting hundreds of interviews and visiting all the expected (and unexpected) places, he visited AH Kardar/ Fazal Mahmood's old neighborhood and hangouts in Lahore, met their families and even visited their graves. This speaks volumes of the amount of research done by Peter Oborne for this book. A must read for lovers of Pakistan Cricket (and also for those who are biased against Pakistan, its people or its Cricket).

Very well put together, a must read for anyone who loves Pakistan cricket. Not even a single page bores and is a proper page turner.

one of the best books I have read

First a disclaimer. I am an Indian cricket fan and we generally hate the Pakistan cricket team. But to appreciate this book fully, if you are an Indian fan like me, you will have to forget about the Indian part for a while and just be a true cricket fan.For this book is about the history of cricket in Pakistan. Politically, they are our most bitter enemies. But their cricket is a thing of beauty, of raw talent and pure passion. With the decline of the West Indies, they are, quite unequivocally, to cricket, what Brazil are to football.This book was destined to be a great one from the beginning. It brings together a brilliant cricket writer and a fascinating subject, which surprisingly for cricket, was lacking in enough quality literature. Kind of reminds me of James Cameron and his story of the Titanic. You always knew that the movie was going to be something special. Like Cameron, Peter Oborne’s credentials are impeccable. His last cricket book told the amazing story of Basil D’Oliveira. It was well researched and a wonderful read, winning the prestigious William Hill Sports book of the year award in 2004.Oborne’s has, to the great delight of every true cricket fan, delivered a great book. It provides everything that can be expected of such a book. There is very little that one can complain about.It has a detailed chronological history, detailed portraits of the key characters, facts and anecdotes, a study of the game’s political, cultural, social and economic impact, mentions of all key events, an understanding of some unique traits and practises which make Pakistan cricket so special and finally a message of hope. It even covers women’s cricket and the popularity and spread of the game in the Taliban ruled war zones.Oborne’s research is thorough and the journey of Pakistan cricket is very well detailed. All the cricketing exploits are well chronicled. The book also covers cricket’s role in nation building and nationalism. How it put a young, fledgling country on the world map. And how it has always been inter-twined with power and politics. And all the madness that goes on.The book is broadly divided into three parts. The first part is about its beginnings and early struggles and is centred on the era of AH Kardar, second only to Imran Khan in his contribution to Pakistan and Pakistan cricket. The second part covers the period in which Imran Khan strode like a colossus and the third one is about Pakistan post Imran. Oborne intelligently focusses all his energies on the first two parts. He is lavish in spending time on key characters like Imran, Kardar and Fazal Mehmood, notable events like the Umpire Baig fiasco and the military coups, major cricketing rivalries like Islamia and Government College and significant developments like county cricket and professional contracts which shaped the game in the country. This is perfect because this is the period about which most outside fans know very little. We all know the corruption, infighting and match fixing laced part three and Oborne also seems to be in a hurry to run past these events.Thanks to the millions of interviews with past players and administrators, Oborne also offers a wealth of anecdotes. I was pleasantly surprised to read about AH Kardar’s role in uniting the Asian nations to break the white nations’ hegemony and his efforts in getting test status for Sri Lanka. He unearths some stories about Lala Amarnath which have never been talked about in India.This book does a fine job in bringing out the beauty of Pakistan cricket and in the end you are besotted. The invention of the doosra and reverse swing, the romantic tradition of unknown players being put directly into the national side, its unique tape ball tournaments, the fascinating stories of the likes of Mushtaq Ahmed and Abdul Qadir, the extraordinary clan systems and the list goes on.Oborne also writes about the resilience of cricket and the people who play it with passion all over the country. The game has survived everything and continues to spread and grow. It continues to give hope to its practitioners – an opportunity to rise above the troubles and shine in front of the world.It is heartening to read about the spread of the game, even in the war zones. Cricket is loved by both sides, who cooperate to organize twenty -20 matches as guns blaze and rockets fly. By the end of the book, as Oborne closes with a message of hope, you are converted into an admirer of Pakistan cricket. As a result it ends up doing a huge service to Pakistan cricket, which lacks enough friends and continues to struggle with matters beyond its control.The book has some minor flaws. It meanders sometimes but more often than not Oborne recovers quickly. Sometimes the writing is biased, especially against India but I guess Oborne’s affection for Pakistan cricket just gets the better of him. There are a couple of factual errors but they are very trivial ones.This book makes you wistful. You wish partition had never happened and we could have called these brilliant Pakistani cricketers our own. The combined talent pool would have created the most unstoppable force in world cricket.This book is a 5 star one for me and a must read for every cricket fan. It makes you appreciate everything that Pakistan brings to cricket and how we can’t do without it.Oborne’s book is heavy but you just can’t put it down.

Firstly, I'd like to say that this was an outstanding book. It's quite long, but is written with beautiful English, is impeccably researched and never feels like it's dragging.The most enjoyable part for me personally, was the analysis of Pakistan cricket from partition (formation of Pakistan) right up until the late 1980's. This part of the book reads as smoothly as a fictional narrative with wonderful descriptions of the characters, the politics, the jokes and the drama. It's really, really good.However, once the book entered the 90's, it no longer retained it's chronological narrative and rather chose to focus on some of the general themes from throughout the 90's as a whole. I didn't enjoy this as much and would've preferred if the book retained it's purely chronological sequence. Further, (and I need to mention that I am only guessing here,) I feel that the author may have enjoyed researching the older Pakistan history more, because some of the recent events were given much less space than older events (for example, a practical-joke-gone-bad by the touring English team back in the 60's got more than twice as many pages than either the recent spot-fixing scandal, or the terrorist act on the Sri Lankans).Having said all that, if I only read the second half of the book I would've loved it. But the first half was the best cricket reading I've ever come across and it made the second half feel slightly disappointing. Definitely recommended though. And not just to Pakistani's, but to all cricket lovers.

Books on Pakistan are a perennial favorite of mine. More often than not – these are written by the South Asian correspondents / editors of the more famous newspapers / journals or the MJ Akbar types. After meandering thru partition / the coups / dictators / terror / Taliban / failed democracy…they conclude that it is a country which is fully screwed….nice and proper and beyond hope and redemption (Think of Anatol Leiven’s Pakistan : A Hard Country or MJ Akbar’s : Tinderbox)…and no patch of comparison with its go-go neighbor India…I have a feeling that these books are specifically written for Indian audiences…who need a reference point to feel good about India…So when finds a book written by the Political editor of Telegraph and also realizes that he has a string of well-reviewed books to his credit, you gingerly buy WOUNDED TIGER – it is about cricket and also Pakistan….and hoping to spend a couple of evenings reading about the turbulent state of cricket in a troubled country. The book also has one of the most appealing and inviting covers that one can find in recent times….see it below and you will know what I am talking about.Magnificent is the word to describe the majestic sweep of this book which runs into 500+ pages. Unlike the normal author who more often than not is prejudiced and prejudges Pakistan before he types his first word – here is a man who writes with fondness towards the cricketers, even indulgent at times…but given the fascinating subject/(s), we can pardon the author for these minor transgressions.What one needs to understand that unlike in India (where we are only crazy about cricket and nothing more)…in Pakistan (a country where seem to be perpetually at war with themselves) ….Cricket defines their national identity…and their collective consciousness is bonded by Cricket and nothing else.Tracing the shaky and tentative start of the ‘independent’ cricket establishment of Pakistan post the partition to the present days of Salman Butt and his peccadilloes, the book faithfully traverses the history of Pakistan cricket, its evolution, its inextricable links with the political establishment and how they mess it up, the super-stars and the child prodigies to the errant wild boys….it concurrently runs on two tracks…tracing the history and evolution of the country in the background and the cricket story in the forefront.From the early stalwarts – AH Kardar to Fazal Mahmood – and later the Asif Iqbals (he is a Hyderabadi and seems to be the first cousin of my friend Nissar Ahmad) to the charismatic Imran Khan to the wilder boys like Javed Miandad and Shoaib Akhthar and finally to the Afridis and Misbahs – the book profiles all of them – their early rise, their superstar days and to their downfall ( of some).Covers in detail the ills of the system, the noble men (Think Kardar) who tried to protect the cricketing system from the whims of the political masters ( the chief patron of BCCP is the PM of Pakistan), the famous six of Javed Miandad, the highs of the team including the World Cup victory in 1992, the ups and downs of their tryst with democracy and its impact on the cricket team, the fascinating stories of their teenage sensations and how they rise above their destinies and become overnight super stars, the match fixing scandals and how they were used to fix players…this book is a must for anyone who wants to understand cricket in Pakistan and why it is – the way it is.Normally, when you read a book on Pakistan, it confirms a presentiment that you always nurtured – that the country is beyond hope but when you read this book on cricket on Pakistan, you will walk away with a different perspective…and empathize with an amazing bunch of human beings…who rise above all that is wrong….and play such wonderful, aggressive and bold cricket…. Go read the book before it becomes too stale with a dozen reviews in all the magazines….it is worth spending a good 5-6 hours reading this treatise on our neighboring cricketers. Much better than the ‘Great Tamasha’…which was on Indian cricket.8

In good condition baring the smell

This is a great book for cricket enthusiasts, detailed and a joy to read. I highly recommend this book.

Garry Sobers once said that if you call David Gower great then you have to have a different adjective to describe Bradman. This book merits six stars. Just at the moment when Pakistan cricket is in the doldrums this book emerges, one that allies scholarship on the Frith scale, and the fluidity of prose to rank with the best. We've had some wonderful recent books by Chalke Astill etc but this one beats them all.One word of warning. Don't buy the Kindle version, as I did. The photos are all at the end and suffer from lacking the clarity of the print version. This is a long book with plenty of footnotes and it is a drag trying to follow them.The book goes into some considerable depth to understand the drivers of the game in Pakistan. It rightly brings out the important roles of Kardar and Fazal Mahmood in the early days. Both were due a reassessment. Kardar with his abrasive personality was due the reappraisal. I was disappointed that so little importance was given to Imtiaz Ahmed, the hero of every child growing up in the cities (see for example 'The Tebbit Test'). Also Fazal's own testimony has been taken a little too readily for granted. Truly a great bowler he was nevertheless not above embellishing his deeds. For example in his book he says he had a nineteen inch waist, can you believe it?The book is best when in thematic chapters. When it gives a series by series account it begins to seem more run of the mill.

For many years, the intermingling of politics and cricket in Pakistan has been crying out for examination. There could be no better guide to this intriguing subject than Peter Oborne. First things first: he knows his cricket. The mercurial superstars of the last fifty years are given balanced, convincing coverage. It's one thing to deal with individuals like Imran or Intikhab as they represent particular strands in the development of the game in Pakistan; more importantly, credibility is given to Javed, to Saeed Ahmed, Zaheer and others who are much more complex than the media lets on. Against that backdrop of knowledge, much of it coming from cricketers who have been willing to confide - and cricketers from that country are delighted to talk, the political landscape is brilliantly covered. At no point does the historical narrative overwhelm, but the vital links amongst selectors, prime ministers, coaches and journalists are expertly explored. In the end, the story is riveting. Explanations are offered and only sometimes guessed at. The seamier side of the game in Pakistan is not overlooked, but the book offers a convincing reminder of how much world cricket is missing by Pakistan's current pariah status in the eyes of the world cricket authorities. The sooner that situation is resolved, the better. And the wounded tiger (a brilliant title) will strike once more. If you buy only one cricket book this year, let it be this one. Just don't bore the non-cricket lovers around you by reading out too much.