Sunil Joshi

Backstory

Sunil Joshi is Ravneet’s husband. I got to know Ravneet when she was interning with Jagdish at his pediatric clinic which was opposite my house. I met them as a couple a few times over casual dinners, and there was an endearing contrast in their personalities. And yet humility and grace completely and totally belonged to them as a couple. The conversations were usually around food and friends and the romance of how they met, rarely about his achievements and never about cricket. For me, Sunil was Ravneet’s husband.

Yet he was a Ranji player, had played for the Indian cricket team, was a part of the IPL until his retirement. But this is cricket we are talking about. I know more about launching rockets than about cricket. So when Ravneet asked me to make a coffee table book for Sunil on the occasion of his retirement, I said I would do it as long as I didn’t have to learn about the game. Having grown up in a cricket-obsessed family, all I knew about cricket was Aamir Khan’s description about the game in Lagaan – gola phenk balla ghuma, gola phenk balla ghuma. Ravneet was also clear that along with Sunil’s professional achievements, we would also document his personal stories, and yes, I could get away from studying the sport.

I am told he had tears in his eyes as he was presented the book by his son. There have been 2 more requests from the wives of retiring cricketers to document their husband’s game, but that would mean I will have to learn the sport and the craze that surrounds it. This I shall have to pass.