Internet killing those handy books!

I was surprised to learn that journalists covering the ICC World Cup have not been given their customary lsquokitrsquoOver the years a World Cup bag contained a host of goodies a Tshirt notepads and in 1996 even a large towel courtesy a cola giant Journalists at the 2019 World Cup even got a power bank However the Media Guide was always treated as an essential It worked as a great ally for journalists who could look up the World Cup schedule touring squads with individual statistics details of all venues and telephone numbers of important people to contact etcCarrying your event bag was also a matter of pride providing one an identity and opening doors For example an overseas journalist friend who arrived at Chennai airport for the India v Australia game last week told me that an airport employee ldquodistinctly observed my Champions Trophy 2017 backpack sparking off a brief conversation even amidst the bustling atmosphere of an airportrdquo Another departure from the past is the publication of official or nonofficial brochures for the publicThe explanation that will be put forward is that there wonrsquot be many takers among cricket enthusiasts who are better off getting their information from the internet Sure they can but is that a substitute for a concise reasonablypriced publication for cricket fansIrsquom fortunate to possess the souvenir published by Walt Disney Productions for the first World Cup in 1975 sponsored by Prudential AssuranceA 20page booklet covered all squads with their Test match stats along with a groundwise schedule of matches It included tentative teams that even had the likes of MAK Pataudi and Salim Durrani who of course were not part of the inaugural World Cup for India The portraits section had writeups of only three players per team The page on India featured Sunil Gavaskar ldquochunkilybuilt and with the affinity for hooking and cuttingrdquo Bishan Singh Bedi ldquosplendid rhythm and control are derived from a perfect bowling actionrdquo and Brijesh Patel ldquocan be an extremely dangerous opponent in limited overs cricketrdquoI have a special affinity for preWorld Cup publications The Illustrated Weekly of India special cricket issue edited by its then Assistant Editor the late Raju Bharatan published before the second World Cup in 1979 played a big role in getting me hooked on cricket Though titled World Cup Special the issue had very little about the then forthcoming tournament instead featuring an array of stories either penned by Bharatan or India cricket greats A Bollywood element was injected with the late actor Vinod Khanna talking about cricket being his first love Khanna provided every indication that he knew his cricket indulging in a bit of punditry as well to opine ldquono cricketer who fails to organise his defence can hope to survive for long in Test cricket which tests you all the wayrdquoThe one World Cup which probably excited most cricket enthusiasts of my generation would be the 1987 one held in India and Pakistan The official book was published by Reliance Industries the tournament sponsors Like all good souvenirs it included player profiles which had Sanjay Manjrekar who would debut for India after the World Cup and articles by famous writers like Indiarsquos KN Prabhu Englandrsquos John Woodcock Christopher MartinJenkins and Matthew Engel and Pakistanrsquos Qamar AhmedThe cricketer columnists were Clive Lloyd Abbas Ali Baig and Ian Chappell while the publishers used an excerpt from Kapil Devrsquos book Cricket My Style which the then India captain wrote in collaboration with journalist R Mohan Kapil is not known to blow his own horn but it was imperative to mention while referring to Indiarsquos firstever win over the West Indies at Berbice Guyana on March 29 1983 ldquoGordon Greenidge jumped out and slammed the ball back towards me It came so fast I imagined the ball was red hot when it first hit the webbing on my right hand and climbed up through my wrist forearm and my hand and lodged between my ribs and my right hand That ball left a trail of seven different bruises between the thumb and the ribcage There was no feeling in my thumb as I ran out to get some treatmentrdquoApart from the official book titled The World of OneDay Cricket Reliance published a book on oneday cricket records compiled by Mohandas Menon who was then employed by the industrial house Menon would go on to become a highly accomplished stats manThe big news before the 1992 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand was the reintroduction of South Africa as a Test nation which meant they would join the other Testplaying nations at the World CupThe allcolour official souvenir called Official Playersrsquo Handbook was all set to be printed when South Africarsquos participation was confirmed The publishers managed to include eight blackandwhite pages on South Africarsquos squad At that point in time there was no indication of a certain Jonty Rhodes being part of the team He eventually was and what a fielding revelation he turned out to be in that tournament And yes the West Indies profiles included Viv Richards who made no comeback as suchThe West Indies are not even part of the participating teams this time which means the media kit is not the only item missing in this World Cup Nevertheless may the bestequipped team winmiddayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzelloSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper