On 24 August 1971 - "The Day the Elephant came to the Oval" - India, under the captaincy of A.L. Wadekar, won her first Test match against England in England. From this dramatic starting-point Mihir Bose focuses on the rollercoaster nature of India's cricket history, from its early days in the time of the British Raj to the present day period that has been characterised by both the sublime (the batting mastery of Sachin Tendulkar) and the ridiculous (the match-fixing scandals associated with the nefarious activities of certain Indian bookmakers). Mihir Bose's lively, informed and always entertaining text is supported by a full statistical appendix, including the scorecards of all India's most famous Test matches and a table of averages of all India's Test players.