Mumbai Cricketeers

 "Selection Day” by Arvand Adiga, 2016

Cricket – the game – is probably not something you are familiar with, especially Indian cricket. If it is, this book is for you. As Adiga puts it, only 10 nations play cricket and only 5 are serious contenders. But the book goes beyond cricket. It is about two slum-dwelling brothers, Radha and Manju Kumar, growing up in Mumbai, who play excellent cricket – their way of standing out. They are dominated by an odd, abusive and driven father, who also drove their mother out of the family home. At some point these young men will be selected to be on the Mumbai cricket team... or not. If so, their future is secure. It is a familiar story in poverty-stricken neighborhoods across the world – in football, soccer, basketball, boxing, what have you.

They are both adopted as teenagers by a cricket scout and an investor after much prodding by their father Mohan. They bank on them to rise to a top level as 'Young Lions' and make lots of money. Radha is big and strong and stands out in several big matches as a local celebrity to the sports' press. Manju, smaller and dreamy, in one game scores 497 runs, a record in junior cricket. Manju actually wants to be a scientist like on the CSI TV show and go to junior college. These two are threatened by a rich Muslim boy, Javed, who arrives in chauffeured cars to practices, eventually befriending Manju. They are also threatened by a possible rivalry between the two of them.

There are homosexuals and homosexual undertones, along with humor. Manju, after his sterling performance, is awarded a trip to England to study English cricket. He says of the Brits: “...the white people eat cheese for breakfast and smell of it all day!” Javed tries to convince Manju he is a slave and he should quit cricket and go into science. Both brothers hang with rich kids. The story wanders inconsequentially for too long. The plot languishes as selection day approaches, but it finally arrives.

Mumbai Slum

Mumbai is part of the story – it's lighthouse and harbor, streets, cricket fields, schools, rail stations, malls and slums. A denizen would be delighted and identify. A foreigner needs a map and protection.  As Adiga says: "...the maiming carelessness of life in Mumbai."  Or:  "...the uninterruptible madness of the urban night." 

Will they succeed? Will they quit? Will they become 'slum dog millionaires?' Do we care? I don't. At this point in history, non-political or a-political art is a decoration or diversion.  A harsh sentiment, but I think necessary.

Sports stories that are not bios of famous athletes are always haunted by failure as young, mostly male lives are temporarily wasted for a shot at the ring of success. Many are called, few are chosen. Adiga in his prior stories focused on class. In this one he is cynical, looking at the twists of the sports' business in a 'coming of age' prism of old men's wealth and money. The old investor wants to 'short all the exchanges in the world' and get very rich when his plans look like they will fall through. Adiga is cynical about the Indian population, nation and culture, but goes no further. While this story is not as tough as “White Tiger,” Adiga's debut, the establishment reviewers were happy to relegate that stronger story to a start, probably relishing the gay backstory here.  Given what is happening in India, it misses the mark.

Prior blog reviews on this subject, use blog search box, upper left, to investigate our 15 year archive, using these terms: “Last Man in Tower” and “White Tiger” (both by Adiga); “Antifascism, Sports, Sobriety - Forging a Militant Working-Class Culture" and “Playing as if the World Mattered” (both by Kuhn); “Hey, How ‘Bout that NFL?” “Reflections on the Olympics 2012,”  “The English Game,” “The Queen’s Gambit,”  “Concussion,” “Missoula – Rape and the Justice System in a College Town,” “Super Weed Bowl.”

And I bought it at the English Bookstore in Antibes, France!

The Cultured Marxist

November 8, 2022