Beyond the Blues: A Cricket Season Like No Other

Indian cricket fans gain knowledge of domestic cricket by looking up scorecards in the daily newspapers.They don't know how different domestic cricket is from its international counterpart."Beyond the Blues" seeks to throw light on what happens behind the scenes in Indian domestic cricket.While international cricketers are constantly under the scrutiny of the media and the public,the domestic cricketers have to put up with substandard grounds,poor accommodation and a hectic schedule.Aakash Chopra presents all this from his own experiences while playing for Delhi.He uses the 2007-08 domestic season as the backdrop and concludes the book with the IPL 2008.A wonderfully written book,it is a must read for Indian cricket fans.

A surprisingly candid, witty and informative book on Indian cricket by a thoughtful cricketer.
I bought and read this only after following Aakash's columns in Hindustan Times for a while. I am certain that very few Indian Test crickets (not many people get 10 caps for the nations)will write better books on their own. Having read "Idols" and "Sunny Days" I have no doubt that Beyond The Blues gives an insight into the domestic game that established test match players like Sunil Gavaskar or even Anil Kumble,should he choose to turn author, might never be able to convey.
Written as a diary of an entire Ranji season (which Delhi won), the books travels to different parts of the country and looks at both playing surfaces and styles with dry humour and wit. Whether he is scoring runs by the ton or getting bad decisions Chopra keeps his chin up and manages to take things in his stride like a seasoned domestic pro. He finds time to be constructive about domestic cricket in India (he does not criticize the boards all the time) and I do think that some if his arguments have merit if only the higher powers that rule the game would ever listen.
Am surely going to read the next book.
Ah! the silver lining: while Chopra never played for India again despite a stellar Ranji season in 2007 he did win the Ranji again for Rajasthan as a professional in 2011.

The book is in the form of a diary and you make a journey, along with Chopra, through Delhi's successful Ranji season. The book offers a very honest account of domestic cricket in India, the problems plaguing it, and also offers solutions to solve those problems.

Chopra is a very fine writer and a good pace is maintained throughout the book.