Cricket in South Asia has never been just a sport. It has been a mirror to history, power, and social identity. In Stumps and Sovereignty: South Asian cricket from empire to the digital age, author Sufghan Sarwar Khan reinterprets cricket’s evolution from a colonial institution to a global digital phenomenon that unites nations across South Asia.
Khan’s book traces how the game’s transformation, from the early days of East India Company to today’s tech-driven era, reflects shifts in geopolitics, innovation, and cultural agency. Drawing from history, technology, and economics, it explores how cricket’s past and present reveal the tensions between heritage and modernization.
At its centre lies Khan’s Hybrid Cricket Model, a proposed re-engineering of the traditional format that blends the endurance of test cricket with the pace of limited-overs contests. Conceived as a dynamic three-day version, the model is designed to help emerging cricket nations gain access to longer formats while revitalising global interest in the sport’s classical form.
The book also projects cricket’s future frontiers, from the advent of 'neuro-cricket' and brain-computer interfaces to nanotech-assisted equipment, programmable pitches, and AI-powered fantasy ownership leagues. Khan speculates on experimental rules for the year 2050, including third-umpire challenge systems and quantum-assisted robotic officiating. Beyond technology, he highlights decentralised cricket economies and advocates innovative captaincy at all levels like Bazball for disruption, which redefines both play and governance.
Early reviewers, including Independent Book Review, describe the work as “impressive in scope and fusing sport and politics without letting one overshadow the other.”
Speaking about his motivation, Khan notes: “Cricket must evolve with each century – innovation keeps the game relevant to the generations that inherit it.”
Sufghan Sarwar Khan, a fintech specialist residing in Dubai, hails from Pakistan. He combines research in cricket culture with experience in geopolitical analysis. His multidisciplinary approach situates Stumps and Sovereignty at the crossroads of sport, technology, and society – an inquiry into how digital transformation is reshaping one of the world’s most storied games.
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