‘I wanted my own language to have some of the game’s glory’

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Our special guest this week is Prof Surya Prakash Chaturvedi, a veteran cricket writer from Indore.

Prof Chaturvedi, a retired professor of English, chose to write about his passion in Hindi and went on to author 15 books on the game.

The 83-year-old Chaturvedi has had a chance to witness the great breadth of Indian cricket – starting with CK Nayudu and Mushtaq Ali all the way to the current generation.

Talking Points:

  • The challenges of writing on cricket in Hindi
  • The great Holkar team of the ’40s and ’50s
  • The frightening presence of CK Nayudu
  • Vijay Hazare – a study in courage
  • Mushtaq Ali – a cricketer nonpareil
  • Meeting a young Sunil Gavaskar
  • The genius of Salim Durrani
  • The decision to write in Hindi
  • Coining new cricketing terms in Hindi
  • Memories of a young Narendra Hirwani
  • And much more…

Books by Prof Surya Prakash Chaturvedi: 

Prof Chaturvedi’s Wikipedia page –  all available in National Book Trust

Prof Chaturvedi’s Amazon page

Related:

Professor of Cricket – Vijay Lokapally interviews Prof Chaturvedi – The Hindu

Bengal v Holkar – Ranji Trophy final 1952-53

Hiralal Gaekwad: the southpaw who lost out to Vinoo Mankad – CricketCountry.com

Books discussed in the podcast:

The Sunil Gavaskar Omnibus 

EAS Prasanna – One More Over

Sandeep Patil – Sandy Storm

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Lead image courtesy Prof Chaturvedi


10 thoughts on “‘I wanted my own language to have some of the game’s glory’”

  1. A good narrative . Listening Pro Chaturvedi on cricket is a lifetime experience. But at one place the anchor has referred Hindi as a regional language. This is erronious. It should be corrected.

    1. Thanks for your comment. We apologize for the terminology used. The intention was to say ‘other Indian languages’.

  2. Absolutely Genius and a fabulous command on both languages .A Great Guru who taught us English so eloquently that we are indebted to him .
    His passion about cricket 🏏 is outstanding not only in writing ✍️It’s a great pleasure to listen about Crivket legends .We are very proud of him and our Sadar Naman to him xHis great fan Humble GP in Soutend UK 🇬🇧

  3. I had been the old fan of professor.he is such an impressive personality he has to be recognized world over.

  4. This was great piece. Thank you. I specially loved to hear about Sunny Gavaskar and Syed Mushtaq Ali. A brief mention of Abbas Ali Baig was also there.

    My favorite piece was how Prof Chaturvedi talked about Subhash Gupte. I’ve read about him a great deal and almost everyone lauds him as the greatest leg spinner in India.

  5. Indeed a worth listening interview. Professor Chaturvedi is a rare combination of cricket and English literature. He has passion towards both. Writing books about cricket in Hindi language is a great contribution of Professor Chaturvedi.

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