This is the definitive story of Pakistan cricket, of its struggles from being an urban, exclusive sport to becoming a national, uniting game in a vast, disparate country, as well as its most democratic pursuit. It is a story told through its cricketers, administrators, patrons and benefactors and its many characters.

Along the way, through its headiest moments, through its many upheavals, it recreates some of its most famous and infamous contests, tours and moments; from the 1954 win at The Oval that announced Pakistan s arrival in the game, to the 1992 World Cup win, which confirmed Pakistan s status at the pinnacle of the sport; through to the Justice Qayyum hearings on match-fixing at the turn of the century that saw Pakistan at an era-defining low ebb.

At each turn it takes in the stories of the era s greatest cricketers, some of the greatest the game has seen anywhere, from Abdul Hafeez Kardar to Imran Khan to Wasim Akram.


About the Author
Osman Samiuddin is a sports writer with the National in Abu Dhabi. He is a former senior editor at ESPNcricinfo, where he still contributes as a columnist and editor of the site s digital magazine, the Cricket Monthly. He was also an editor at Nightwatchman, a long-form cricket quarterly. He has written for a number of newspapers and magazines across the world, including the Guardian, Daily Telegraph, the Wall Street Journal, India Today, the Wisden Almanack and Dawn.