A decade after the Indian cricket team's victory in the 2011 World Cup, Sharda Ugra looks back at the team's incredible campaign in her book ‘It’s Never Too Late’, coming soon as an Amazon Prime Day special release.
Amazon’s annual two-day shopping event for Prime members, Prime Day is just around the corner on July 26 & 27, and book-lovers have reason to be excited. Along with offers from top brands, Prime members also get premier views on curated books, best deals and blockbuster entertainment. A host of new releases are planned for Prime Day, with authors bringing you different slices of life, from essays to commentaries and fiction to fantasy.
A sports journalist for over three decades, Sharda has worked with Mid-Day, The Hindu, India Today magazine and ESPNcricinfo.com for ESPN India. A true sport aficionado, her love for cricket led her to work with former New Zealand captain John Wright and Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh on their memoirs of Indian cricket.
Reliving the World Cup 10th anniversary
Writing through the pandemic was therapeutic; it gave her a shape to the days. Talking about her upcoming book, she says, “The 10th year anniversary of the World Cup reminded me how much had changed since we stood on the Wankhede Stadium outfield watching MS Dhoni's rise into the riotous Mumbai night. This piece of writing reminisces about where the heroes of that night had gone, and why it is important to remember a moment in Indian cricket, which marked beginning of the end of an era that had reshaped our much-loved game.”
'Spent the lockdown reading'
She spent the lockdown days reading, much like several others, according to Amazon. During the past 18 months, Amazon saw that reading had increased. Asked how this made her feel as an author and an avid book lover, Sharda says, “Virtuous! Of all the leisure activities invented by humankind, reading is one of the most complex and the most sublime.” She read a range of books on (of course) sport, but also society, crime, fiction, and science. Some of them are Indica by Prannay Lal, Mulk Raj Anand’s Across the Black Water, Gary Kasparov's Deep Thinking & How Chess Imitates Life, The Braided River by Samrat Choudhury, Cricket 2.0 - Wigmore & Wilde, Murder At the Mushaira by Raza Mir, and The Damned United by David Peace.
'Find empathy, kindness, generosity'
Besides reading more, Sharda’s advice to India emerging from pandemic is about kindness, “To those who are fortunate enough to have access to vaccines, oxygen, hospital beds, ambulances, please act with the least fortunate in your line of sight. Everyone, turn away from toxicity and hatred around us and find empathy, kindness, generosity and decency.”
Prime members in India are all set to discover joy on July 26 and 27 with two days of savings, great deals, new launches, blockbuster entertainment and more. This Prime Day, Amazon India will continue to empower and support small businesses, manufacturers, start-ups and brands, women entrepreneurs, artisans, weavers and local shops in India, helping them to bounce back from the pandemic. Prime members, in particular, can look forward to new launches and a range of best of deals, right from smartphones, consumer electronics, TVs, appliances, Amazon devices to fashion and beauty, home improvement and everyday essentials, the best entertainment benefits, and much more.
