GULLY GULLY: TRAVELS AROUND INDIA DURING THE 2023 WORLD CUP

By Aditya Iyer

Penguin Play, Rs 499

In October-November 2023, a nation did live and breathe cricket until a billion dreams lay shattered after Pat Cummins’s Australia, which had begun the World Cup with consecutive losses to India and South Africa, beat the home team in the final at Ahmedabad to lift the trophy. Aditya Iyer’s Gully Gully reignites the fervour and the passion that had gripped every corner of cricket-mad India during those electrifying six weeks.

Iyer, a journalist-turned-author, has this unique ability to dish out fabulous tales from the most trivial of happenings and this book is a testament to his storytelling prowess. It is not just his lyrical style of writing but also his keenness to explore the unknown and the faceless characters behind the game’s popularity that make his mission possible.

The book can also be mistaken for a travelogue as it portrays Rohit Sharma’s men’s pilgrimage through nine different cities. There are 11 chapters, each dedicated to India’s matches, as the cricketing caravan made its way through the length and breadth of the country.

Gully Gully is not just about the players; it is equally an insightful exploration of the gullies where the game is played as well as the country’s history, culture and politics that have contributed to making cricket a booming industry in India.

The technical aspects of the game have not been left aside either. Iyer’s description of Jasprit Bumrah’s action is perhaps the most apt: “Five slow steps break into a five-stride wobble, with the suddenness of a resting train jerking into motion... Two ruler-straight arms point towards the batsman before the right one whips over and shoots out the ball...” On closing his/her eyes, the reader will be able to visualise Bumrah’s action perfectly.

While tracing the journey of Rohit Sharma’s near-indomitable team from the sunburnt coast of Chennai to the stunning locales of the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas in Dharamsala, the book highlights the exhilarating cricket they played, delving into each and every detail which made the tournament so memorable.

The manner in which Iyer churns out the emotions while following India’s 10-match winning run, often shedding his journalistic tag to don the hat of a fan, makes Gully Gully enchanting. The narrative is also about missed flights, bragging bootleggers and chaotic traffic that make the journey thrilling.

There’s just one regret: a few pictures of his odyssey would have made the book exhaustive and even more charming.