Sports presenter and commentator Gautam Bhimani has made a bold attempt to capture the unique character and flavour of the game of cricket, both on and off the field.
His book Reverse Sweep epitomizes unorthodoxy and symbolizes bravado, sometimes foolhardiness. Most of all, it suggests a sense of adventure.
All fairly concurrent, with his unique swashbuckling style of cricket presentation, Bhimani takes the reader on a racy anecdotal adventure across the geographically and culturally diverse world of cricket, in a tantalizing travelogue.
He shares vivid memories of the idyllic settings, crazy characters, local traditions, exotic explorations, and a few incapacitating incidents in the game.
Be it live commentary from a helicopter, reports from tree tops, dips in jacuzzis, mingling with Maori tribal warriors, dressing up as an Arab Sheikh, having the gall to face Muttiah Muralitharan's doosra or Wasim Akram's bouncer in the nets, or daring to attempt the House of Horrors, a reflex-building fielding drill used by Greg Chappell for the Indian Team, Reverse Sweep has it all.
The foreword has been written by Sunil Gavaskar and there are quotes on the cover from Greg Chappell, Wasim Akram, Geoff Boycott, Rahul Dravid, Ravi Shastri, Daryl Harper, Navjot Sidhu and Cyrus Broacha.
Bhimani was born on an auspicious cricketing date, June 25, the date India played it first ever Test in 1932, and also the date India won the World Cup in 1983. Cricket has been in his consciousness ever since. Having followed his father Kishore, a veteran of over 100 Tests as journalist and commentator on both radio and television, to Test matches from the age of eight, the sport never left him, though as a player he would prefer to boast of achievements in tennis ball cricket, book cricket, and in board games!
