Going Places

How eleven men from the margins changed the way cricket is played and perceived beyond the metros.

This is the story of a unique XI made up of cricketers--among them, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Suresh Raina, Munaf Patel and S. Sreesanth--who made the leap from the hinterland to centre stage.

Difficult as it is to become a top-flight cricketer in India, it is doubly so for those growing up in small towns and villages. Yet there have been inspiring exceptions who have not let place names such as Azamgarh, Davangere, Ikhar, Jalandhar, Jamnagar, Kakur, Meerut, Muradnagar, Naichanpur, Najafgarh and Ranchi deter them from realizing their ambitions.