A Corner of a Foreign Field

Historian Ramachandra Guha explores the complex social and political evolution of modern India through the lens of cricket. Tracing the sport from an elite colonial pastime imported by British rulers to a passionate national obsession, the book centers on Palwankar Baloo—a pioneering Dalit left-arm spinner who broke caste barriers on the pitch—to illuminate how athletics intertwined with caste dynamics, religious factionalism, anti-colonial resistance, and the emergence of independent India.