Cover art for Selection Day by Aravind Adiga. Courtesy of Pan Macmillan Australia.
Aravind Adiga has lived, studied and worked in Australia, the USA and England as well as his native India. It is not clear from his bio whether he ever played cricket but it would be surprising if he has not – for there is no doubting his passion for the game as you turn the pages of Selection Day. He refers to Sachin Tendulkar (who played cricket for Mumbai) with the esteem and respect that greatest batsman of all time deserves; Sir Donald Bradman also rates an honourable mention. Among all this reverence for cricket, however, we are reminded that, ‘Only ten countries play this game, and only five of them play it well.’ But Adiga has also been quoted as saying, ‘In India, cricket is all the sports in Australia plus Christmas’, so it makes sense for him to use this idiosyncratic game as the vehicle to portray his characters.
Not that this novel is about cricket – rather, cricket is the canvas on which it is painted. Consequently, while beautifully written, this book would be barely intelligible to, or at least fraught with difficulty for, anyone who does not have some understanding of the rules and history of the game.
In essence, though, Selection Day tracks the odyssey of Manju as he struggles with the transition from adolescence to manhood while emerging from the poverty of the slums to a life of privilege. It is the story of an over-ambitious, tyrannical father – a man whose obsession with cricket dictates his every move – and an exploration of what happens when the son of such a man both transcends and disappoints his father’s ambitions for him. It is the story of what a father both inflicts on and gifts to his sons and a story of sibling rivalry and brotherly love – and what it means to be more talented than your sibling.
It is further the story of overvaluing a sport because of its popularity. And somehow it is also about the hustle and bustle, the ambience – the vibe, if you like – of modern-day India. Most of the action takes place in contemporary Mumbai, still often referred to as Bombay. The pace of the novel, however, is not quite as fast as some of the bowling Manju has to face. This only works in the novel’s favour, the meandering momentum allowing space for such comments as, ‘I predict that young males, lacking women to marry or even mate with, are likely to become more progressively deranged… Now only one thing can save us from this Hindu testosterone. Cricket.’ Similarly, when Manju is prevented from entering a morgue because he is not a medical professional or student, he protests, ‘But I play cricket.’ The guard’s response? ‘Go on in.’ A later reflection on what is required to become a great batsman: ‘He needed to hate the game.’
There is, then, much to recommend this excellent novel. Readers are bound to be captivated by the development of Manju and his older brother, and enjoy living through the triumph and tragedy of selection to a highly vaunted team. The numerous characters, many from the sporting world that Manju and his friends meet on the path to cricketing fame and defeat – and their complex relationships to each other – are also bound to delight. There are numerous memorable insights into the human condition, spiced throughout with a strong Mumbai flavour, all making Selection Day a book not to be missed. Unless, of course, cricket is not your thing.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars out of 5
Selection Day by Aravind Adiga
ISBN: 9781509806485
Format: Trade PaperbackPub
date: 30/08/2016
Category: Fiction & related items / Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)
Imprint: Picador
Pages: 320
Price: $29.99
