Yatish

Few rivalries in international sport carry the weight, warmth, and rising edge of tension quite like that between India and Australia—a contest as rooted in history as it is in present-day spectacle. In Indian Summers, acclaimed cricket writer Gideon Haigh curates a compelling and personal collection of writings that track the evolution of this rich and complex relationship, tracing it from rare early encounters to the fever-pitch battles of the modern era.

Haigh, one of the game’s most thoughtful chroniclers, presents this book not as a comprehensive history, but as a collage of experience—part memoir, part reportage, part cultural essay. Drawing from decades of writing for esteemed platforms like Wisden, The Guardian, The Australian, Cricinfo, and his own Substack, Cricket Et Al, the book is steeped in both nostalgia and sharp observation.

The volume begins with cricket’s early uncertain exchanges—spare tours, mutual curiosity, and missed opportunities. Australian fans in the 1970s may have caught only occasional glimpses of Indian cricket, and often only when India toured Down Under. But as Haigh shows, everything changed in the 21st century. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy became a stage for some of the most iconic Tests in living memory—from Kolkata 2001 to Brisbane 2021—while India’s rise as a global cricketing superpower redefined the competitive dynamic.

At the heart of Indian Summers is not just the rivalry, but the people and places that shaped it—Bradman and Hazare, Tendulkar and Ponting, Smith and Kohli, Eden Gardens and the MCG, and the quieter characters and corners that have added richness to this enduring connection.

Haigh also touches on the shifting cultural interplay between the two nations: how India has, in many ways, replaced Pakistan as Australia’s defining cricketing foil; how IPL franchises have transformed Australian players into Indian celebrities; and how the intensity of competition now coexists with deep mutual admiration.

Published ahead of the first full five-Test India–Australia series in over three decades, Indian Summers is both timely and timeless. It reminds readers that behind every scoreboard and stat line lies a deeper narrative—of colonial legacies, modern ambitions, and the unspoken ties that bind two very different nations through a shared love for the same game.

A Must for Cricket Lovers

Whether you’re a lifelong fan or a recent convert, Indian Summers offers a vivid, intelligent look into one of cricket’s most fascinating rivalries. With his usual wit and insight, Haigh shows that while cricket may be played on the field, its true drama unfolds far beyond the boundary.