The 2007 World Cup changed the terms of the debate around cricket. For India, the tournament turned out to be a national tragedy; for the first time in years there was a palpable weakening of the foundations of the country's universal obsession. For the hosts, West Indies, it almost put an end to the dream of creating a unified political, social and economic entity. For Australia, the world cup triumph was accompanied by a sense of dj vu which was evident in the muted celebrations. In the final analysis, for reasons of money, the ninth edition of the cup was bloated to accommodate sixteen teams for over a month and a half. Yet the tournament had no distinctive quality and no particular innovation, its format was dull and its title rendered meaningless in the process. What it did generate was heated discussions about the market, about the nature of profits, and about sportsmanship or the increasing lack of it. In this book, cricket historian Boria Majumdar analyses the many events and aspects of the World Cup, from the shocking death of Bob Woolmer to the dwindling television revenues in India. He examines the controversial legacy of the tournament and the importance of cricket, if any, in the shaping of contemporary societies.

A Rhodes scholar and author of many books on cricket, including the acclaimed Twenty-Two Yards to Freedom-A social history of Indian cricket.