Zero For 5
Martin Chandler |Published: 2023
Pages: 152
Author: Amre, Pravin
Publisher: Chourangi Entertainments PVT Ltd
Rating: 3 stars
Pravin Amre’s name is not one, I have to confess, that immediately struck a chord with me when I was told about this book. It didn’t help that an intriguing sounding title did not mean anything either.
I soon learned though that Amre was a specialist middle order batsman who played in eleven Tests for India between November 1992 and August 1993 but, despite an impressive debut century against South Africa in Durban and an average of 42.50, was not selected for the Test side again.
Which doesn’t help with the book’s title, but I know now that that references the Ranji Trophy semi-final in 2006/07 when a Mumbai side coached by Amre were reduced by Baroda to 0-5 before, remarkably, recovering sufficiently to win the game and then, two weeks later, the Trophy itself.
After that Amre has had a long and successful career as a coach with a number of Indian sides, most recently the Delhi Capitals IPL franchise. The game’s shortest format, unsurprisingly in light of that fact, comes in for much praise, a feature of the book that not all will find attractive, but Zero For 5 remains a worthwhile read.
To assist him in presenting his story Amre enlisted the veteran Indian writer Vijay Lokapally, and while there may be the odd unnecessary typographical error in the book that the proof readers should have picked up that does not detract from the fact that the narrative is an interesting one.
The large format of the book adds to the pleasure of reading it. Printed on good quality paper and lavishly illustrated I had seen no more than one or two of the many photographs before, and neither designer nor publisher can be faulted on the book’s presentation.
At some point in his life in professional sport Amre must have crossed swords with others, and he must surely have less than positive views and memories of some of his teammates and opponents, but if he does he has kept those to himself. This book is very much a celebration of what he has done with his life and career that he has taken pleasure from, and his opportunity to pay fulsome tributes to many of those that he has encountered along the way.
The second part of the book departs from the autobiographical formula and contains contributions from others concerning Amre, the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Dilip Vengsarkar from his playing days, and Ajinkye Rahane and Shreyas Iyer on Amre the coach. Amre’s old skipper Kapil Dev contributes an affectionate foreword.
I would have liked a fuller account from Amre of that debut century, and the more so of the series against England that followed the South African Tests and in which India and Amre both did well. The 0-5 match might also have benefitted from a fuller account, although the coverage of that one is certainly revealing, and well done. Sadly however there is next to nothing on Amre’s reaction to his Test career ending.
Why did Amre not play for India again? I see he lost his place to Sanjay Manjrekar, and then Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly arrived soon after so it is easy to see why he could not force his way back in. But later in the book when Lokapally is writing as himself rather than ghosting Amre he does hint at a more controversial explanation, which it would have been interesting to learn more about.
But despite those observations I much enjoyed reading Zero For 5, and I am sure it will be a popular book amongst followers of the game in India, particularly those who lived through the period that it covers. The book deserves to reach a wider audience as well, although at the present time I regret I am not able to offer any advice as to how those outside India without generous friends inside the country can acquire copies.
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