The Taliban Cricket Club - Hardcover

Timeri N. Murari

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 8192328031 ISBN 13: 9788192328034

Publisher: Aleph Book Company, 2012

Synopsis

This is the story of Rukhsana, a savvy Afghan journalist, and someone accustomed to independence. But with the arrival of Taliban her freedoms have become severely curtailed. Unsurprisingly, she s desperate to flee Kabul, but is held back by an ailing mother and younger brother. Then, one day she s called to the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice to meet its head, the notorious Zorak Wahidi. He tells her that the winning team of the cricket match he s organizing will be sent to Pakistan for training to prepare for an international cricket match. On the face of it, though, the idea appears ridiculous: hardly anyone in Afghanistan understands cricket, and Taliban will never embrace a game rooted in civility, fairness and equality. Only Rukhsana knows how to play cricket through her time in Delhi. The tournament offers hope for an escape for herself and her cousins. So Rukhsana starts to work on a daring plan that might just give them all the escape route they so desperately crave.

About this title

From the Back Cover

Rukhsana is a spirited young journalist who works for the Kabul Daily in Afghanistan. She takes care of her ill, widowed mother and her younger brother, Jahan. But then Rukhsana is summoned to appear at the infamous Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, and their quiet and tenuous way of life is shattered.

There, the malevolent minister, Zorak Wahidi, announces that the Taliban has found a new way to pursue the diplomatic respect it has long been denied: cricket. On the world stage of sports, the Taliban will prove they are a fair and just society. Rukhsana and several other journalists are to report that a tournament will be held to determine who will play for Afghanistan. Anyone can put together a team. Women are forbidden to play. The winners will travel to Pakistan to train, then go on to represent Afghanistan around the world.

Rukhsana knows that this is a shameful, and deeply surreal, idea. The Taliban will never embrace a game rooted in civility, fairness, and equality, with no tolerance for violence or cheating. And no one in Afghanistan even knows how to play the game.

Except for Rukhsana.

This could be a way to get her cousins and her brother out of Afghanistan for good. But before she can organize a team, the terrifying Wahidi demands her hand in marriage. He finds her both exciting and infuriating, and wants to control her unruly, willful nature. The union would be her prison, stripping away what few freedoms she has left under Taliban rule and forcing her away from her family. Not marrying Wahidi, however, might mean her death. Her family rallies around her, willing to do anything to protect her, even if it means imprisonment or worse.

But Rukhsana realizes that Wahidi may have given her a way out, too. With the help of her loyal, beloved brother and cousins, she forms her own cricket team and sets about teaching them how to win their freedom—with a bat and a ball.

Inspired by the Taliban's actual and unprecedented promotion of cricket in 2000 in an attempt to gain acceptance in the global community, internationally bestselling author Murari weaves a riveting story of strength, hope, and soaring human triumph that proves no tyranny is ever absolute in the face of love.

About the Author

Timeri N. Murari is an award-winning writer, filmmaker and playwright. Time magazine chose his film, The Square Circle, as one of its top ten films of 1997. His works include the bestselling novel Taj, which has been translated into 21 languages. The Taliban Cricket Club, which is based on a real-life incident, will be published around the world this year. He lives with his wife in his ancestral home in Chennai.

Edition details

• Publisher: Aleph Book Company
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 8192328031
• ISBN 13: 9788192328034
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 336