Every time the Indians and the West Indians have clashed on the cricket field, it has resulted in complex rivalry. It has also been a meeting of people, ethnicities, and, in many ways , because of the complicated history and intertwined culture, a reunion. Is it just cricketing reasons that the visiting Indian teams have always performed better in Guyana and Trinidad, the two Caribbean countries where they are greeted by enthusiastic descendants of the former Indian indentured labourers?

Through the decades, the histories – cricketing and otherwise – of India and the various Caribbean nations that make up the cricket-playing West Indies have gone through several upheavals. There have been highs and lows on one side, and lows and highs on the other. Connecting the cricketing theme there has always been the story of people, and the complex ethnic and racial undercurrents that have left their mark on cricket and politics.

This book is a tale of the fascinating tussles, the rising and dwindling fortunes, of two vivacious cricketing powers whose identities were stoked into their cricketing cultures.

"Capturing the true spirit of not one but two fascinating cricketing cultures and their engagement over the years is at the heart of what makes this book stand out." – Shashi Tharoor

"Succeeds in addressing the major gap in the documentation of interplay between two major cricketing cultures, two sides from two ends of the world with incredibly mixed ethnicities, two geographies connected by unfortunate histories across the dark waters." – Clifford Narinesingh

"Meticulously researched work on a surprisingly ignored relationship on and off the field." – Abhishek Mukherjee