Book Review: Cricket Till I Die - Upneet Grover

Cricket is an indispensable part of our lives – both for the fans and the haters of this glorious game. I’ve been a cricket addict for as long as I can remember, and have very often dreamed about playing cricket professionally. Chalk it up to me being lazy or to the fact that I was the sixth bowler in my team, and used to bat at number six or seven and was in the team as a specialist fielder, my dream always remained that – a very elusive dream. And I am sure I am not alone in this field, all the fan-boys would have dreamed of playing cricket for India.

Upneet Grover has taken this dream and weaved the novel “Cricket Till I Die” around it. The protagonist is a code-monkey who is itching to leave his boring job. He gets a break when he qualifies for an MBA and leaves his job. He has a break of 2-3 months, and starts playing cricket at a small club to while away the time. The protagonist had always been a decent player, and soon finds his groove. A bigger club beckons, and how he goes on to become a professional cricketer makes the story. While cricket is the focus, the love-story of the protagonist is also highlighted.

The character of Vinnet Grover (yeah, the names of protagonist and the author are that similar) is very well defined, although I cannot say the same about any other character. The flow of the story is very straightforward, and the story itself is very simple. There are a few plot-holes in the story, and there are some far-fetched moments in the book when you have to look for your jaw on the floor. But that does not hamper the pace of the story. Like any good one-day innings, it was very well paced.

A big sore point in the book was the use of ‘u’ and similar SMS lingo. Since that lingo was not in the whole book, I am chalking it up to the oversight of the editor. This was one thing which even a simple spell check could have caught. Apart from that the writing was decent enough and there were rarely any breaks in the flow.

I completely enjoyed this book – maybe it was the story, maybe it was because Sehwag was one of the major characters, maybe it was because I have had the same dream, maybe all of the above – whatever be the reason I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

Addendum: This is an author requested review. I was contacted by Upneet Grover to review his book.

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