Sunil Gupta

Final Innings Sunil Gupta

Final Innings is the story of five tumultuous years in the life of a successful and internationally admired Indian cricketer, Ramdas Upreti. It explores the depths of human desire and disillusionment, hope and regret, love and longing, and deep passions. Above all it is a story of extraordinary courage in the teeth of danger and adversity. A combination of extraordinary circumstances and coincidences on and off the cricket field conspire to rekindle Ramdas' obsessions with contemporary global and subcontinental gridlocks. Three complex relationships add their own piquancy: with Anne, his ex-girlfriend, with Pakistani nurse Nargis, and the bond he develops with Nargis' father, the Pakistani umpire Khalid Azam. Events now begin to overtake him, and his life slowly begins to unravel. These multiple strands eventually converge to create a stirring and memorable crescendo. Final Innings brings to life our world: the reality that subcontinental teams tend to struggle in the SENA countries, the fraught India-Pakistan relationship, the powder keg called Kashmir, terrorism, climate change and the environment. The plot unfolds over four 'Innings' like the build-up to the climax of a cliff-hanger Test Match. The action swings across India, Australia, England, Pakistan and the UAE. Final Innings is a voyage deep into dark, choppy and uncharted waters. It is not about the T-20 leagues, nor about corruption and match-fixing. It is a thought-provoking and deeply moving human story which happens to be set in the world of cricket.