Jeffrey Archer shares bond of interest with Indian cricket team

Popular English author Jeffrey Archer is best known for his best selling novels in the world of literature. Hence, it would definitely come as a surprise to see the 77-year old politician and author talking a great deal about cricket. Well, truth be told, Archer has been an ardent follower of cricket and absolutely loves the Indian cricket team. A recent column on Jeffrey Archer and his love for the Indian cricketers surfaced in the Mumbai Mirror.

The column spoke at length how Archer has been closely following the game of cricket in India. When asked to pick his favorite Indian cricketer, the veteran writer seemed to be facing the problem of plenty. He showered praises on many Indian cricketers. He noted Sachin Tendulkar to be an all time great player. Talking about Rahul Dravid, he called him to be his close friend and a ‘favorite’ batsman.

His love for Dravid grew immensely when ‘The Wall’ had won the game for India in the iconic Eden Garden Test against Australia back in 2001. The same match saw him become a fan of VVS Laxman too. Sourav Ganguly remains to be his favorite captain. Among the players of the yesteryears, Jeffrey Archer had a liking for the little master Sunil Gavaskar, who he hails as one of the greatest openers.

Tiger Pataudi, the former Indian captain, wass a close friend too. Among the current lot, Archer feels Cheteshwar Pujara is a better batsman than Virat Kohli in Tests. He also loves the work ethic of Anil Kumble and the discipline that he brings in to the Indian side.

On his only regret about cricket

He is happy to see the game of cricket become so popular in India. However, he maintains that the game remains to be an English game. His only regret is that the sport has failed to reach the United States. “It will remain an English game. I am sad that we could not take it to the United States. That is why they play baseball there,” he quoted.

Favorite moment of Indian cricket

Speaking about his favorite moment in Indian cricket, Jeffrey Archer picked the 2001 Eden Garden Test to be the one. “Your cricket teams were great even before that. But my best moment was Kolkata 2001. Not losing a wicket for a full day and win the Test following on was an amazing,” he conceded.