Twist and turns of women cricketers

Westland Publishing (an Amazon company) will publish the first ever-comprehensive history of women's cricket in India.

Co-authored by Karunya Keshav and Sidhanta Patnaik, The Fire Burns Blue: A History of Women’s Cricket in India will publish under Westland’s new imprint, Westland Sport on 30 November 2018.

From the days of pioneers like Diana Eduljee and Shantha Rangaswamy in the early ‘70s to the stars of today like Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur, the story of women’s cricket has gone through numerous twists and turns.

The Fire Burns Blue provides an elaborate narrative of the game right from its origin to the present day. It also presents the readers with rare photographs that further helps in re-iterating the highs and lows of the early years of women’s cricket.

Commenting on the process of writing the book, Karunya Keshav said, ‘Women's cricket in India has been built on the hard work and this wonderful can-do spirit of some incredible, multi-faceted women. Their journeys are inspiring – and entertaining!

At a time when the game is changing, and the understanding of women's voice in society itself is changing, we wanted to celebrate their lives and remember their achievements beyond what the scorecards did. It has been a delight and an honour to learn more about these role models.’

Speaking on the journey of women’s cricket in India, Sidhanta Patnaik said, ‘A book on women's cricket in India was much needed and I am glad that both of us were in a position to dedicate ourselves to this project for almost a year and pull it off.

While there have been many who have contributed significantly and have our gratitude, we were extremely lucky that both former and current cricketers welcomed the idea and opened up to us. We hope that the readers enjoy the experience of reading as much as we had fun putting these pages together.’