Hinterland To Centre Stage

Mr. Krishnamurthy Kalumangi in New Delhi is a known writer in Kannada and Telugu. 

Krishnamurthy Kalumangi

He is a darling of many of his friends and associates. 

A very humble person Mr. Kalumangi happily introduced his son Mr. K R Guruprasad through an email.  

Guruprasad has penned a book on small town cricket heros and the same is published by Penguin, New Delhi. 

KEMPUKOTE is sharing the proud moment of Kalumangi couples to introduce the book and the writer.

The Writer

K.R. Guruprasad is assistant editor with DNA, Mumbai. An alumnus of Asian College of Journalism, he has been associated with the sports pages of newspapers for the past eight years. He has also worked with the Indian Express and Hindustan Times. Guruprasad loves to practise classical guitar when he is not reading. He was born in Bellary, Karnataka and graduated in chemistry from Bhavan’s College in Mumbai. He is thirty-four years old.

The Book

How eleven men from the margins changed the way cricket is played and perceived beyond the metros.

Book Cover

This is the story of a unique XI made up of cricketers--among them, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Suresh Raina, Munaf Patel and S. Sreesanth--who made the leap from the hinterland to centre stage.

Difficult as it is to become a top-flight cricketer in India, it is doubly so for those growing up in small towns and villages. Yet there have been inspiring exceptions who have not let place names such as Azamgarh, Davangere, Ikhar, Jalandhar, Jamnagar, Kakur, Meerut, Muradnagar, Naichanpur, Najafgarh and Ranchi deter them from realizing their ambitions.

These men have made the transition from rice fields and akharas to hallowed sports grounds, from abject poverty and menial jobs to IPL riches, from tennis balls and rough-hewn bats to shiny, red leather balls and sponsored cricket bats.

A combination of a supportive family, a determined coach, talent and sheer hard work did the trick for them. Without this mix, the gentleman’s game would have lost these gifted players to farming, a job in Africa or driving a truck in Canada.

India is fortunate to have this ‘team’ of small-town cricket heroes.