Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
FORMER Bahrain resident and author Dr Debashish Sengupta’s latest title, Stumped, has hit the shelves and documents the life of yesteryear cricketing sensation Syed Kirmani, both off the pitch and on it.
The book was officially unveiled in a star-studded event in Bengaluru, India, on December 29, the sportsman’s 75th birthday, which was attended by several former Indian cricketers.
Dr Debashish, who lived in Bahrain with his family from 2019 to 2024, co-wrote the 272-page book with journalist Dakshesh Pathak from India.
Syed was a member of the Indian team that won the iconic 1983 Cricket World Cup. In 2016, he was awarded the Col C K Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest honour bestowed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India on a former player.
“I started working on Stumped about eight years ago and it’s been a wonderful journey getting to know the man behind the cricketer,” Dr Debashish, who worked at Royal University for Women during his stay in Bahrain, told GulfWeekly.
An ardent fan of Syed since childhood, the 50-year-old creative was looking for a guest for the launch of his book Life of Y when a common friend of the two introduced him to Syed.
“I was ‘bowled over’ in our first meeting. When I went to thank him after the launch, he told me that he would like to release a biography and asked me if I would write it. I had never written biographies before but my work follows a narrative style so, I was confident and I decided to accept the project,” the London-based associate professor and course leader at Portsmouth University noted.
“I suggested that he send me voice notes of stories from his childhood. I listened to them and made notes especially for factual information. I let it settle for a few days and then the words came to me.”
This continued for five years, until one day, Dr Debashish got a call from Syed who said there was a journalist who might come aboard the project.
“He could have just got him on board but he called me as I had been working on the book for the last five years,” he said. “This shows the nature of the man. I accepted as Dakshesh was a brilliant addition to the team.”
Stumped is divided into two sections – the biography, written by Dr Debashish, and a ‘ringside view’, penned by Dakshesh, who has been closely following the cricketer’s career for a long time.
“We were wondering how to co-author as we had different writing styles – mine biographical and his journalistic. I then had the idea to split the book into two sections,” he revealed.
“As the co-author of this notable sportsman’s story, I honestly met my worth as a writer and journalist,” Dakshesh noted.
Stumped is peppered with lesser known facts about the sportsman, like he was a boxer before he got into cricket.
A poignant chapter entitled ‘Best Loser’ tells the story of how Kirmani lost a boxing match and was dubbed by one of the judges as the ‘best loser’ because he had a ‘winning attitude’, one that he is known to have carried with him all his life.
Also recording Syed’s journey ‘beyond the 22 yards’, the book features many personal anecdotes.
“One day, as he was entering an event, he was greeted by many people including the security guard. Mr Kirmani stopped, put his hand on the guard’s shoulder, and spoke to him before proceeding – a testament to his humility,” Dr Debashish said.
“The biography features my emotional experiences and disappointments too,” a candid Sayed revealed, adding that he hopes readers enjoy the book.
So far, Dr Debashish has written seven books, including Stumped. He is set for the ‘second innings’ of his previously released Life of Z, which offers a behavioural perspective of ‘Gen Z’. Life of Y, a similar book about millennials, was re-released last month. All three have been published by Penguin Books.
The former Reef Island resident continues to visit Bahrain where his friends live and is known for his research paper on ‘motivations of young women in Bahrain volunteering during Covid-19’, which bagged the Best Research Project award for 2022-23 at the Global Higher Education Awards from among more than 20 entries.
Stumped is available on Amazon.
