CRICKET: A Bridge of Peace

South Asia is home to one of the fiercest rivalries in international sport - cricket between India and Pakistan. No other derby has the same passionate following, the constant intermingling of sport and politics, or serves as the ultimate expression of national identity as an India-Pakistan cricket match.

In this volume, Shaharyar Khan, present chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board and an avowed cricket diplomat, offers glimpses of the power of the game to unite divided societies. Moving away from the often-used adage of India-Pakistan cricket as 'war minus the shooting', the book is replete with illustrations when momentous political decisions followed cricket tours. An instance is the standing ovation the victorious Pakistan Team received at Chennai in 1999 that reflected public attitudes to India-Pakistan relations and contributed to the Lahore Declaration.

The volume gives the reader a unique view of Pakistan cricket and how players as ambassadors carry the burden of national responsibility, just as in India. Capturing exciting portraits of some of the greatest players of today and the vigour of international sporting action, the volume claims that India-Pakistan relations will benefit from the glorious traditions of cricket. It affirms that subsequent generations will look back at cricket encounters with the knowledge that when they played, peace won. This volume will be of interest to all cricket lovers and a broad lay audience in addition to scholars and specialists.

About the Author:

Shaharyar M. Khan is Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board. He served as Pakistan's Ambassador to Jordan, UK, and France and was Foreign Secretary from 1990-4. A former UN Secretary General's Special Representative to Rwanda, he represented Cambridge University and later played first grade club cricket for the MCC, Hornsey, and Wimbledon. A direct descendant of the former ruling family of Bhopal, he is the author of The Begums of Bhopal: A Dynasty of Women Rulers in Raj India and The Shallow Graves of Rwanda. He also edited his mother's (Princess Abida Sultaan) autobiography, Memoirs of A Rebel Princess (OUP, 2004).