The Taliban Cricket Club by Timeri N. Murari [Paperback]

The Taliban Cricket Club by Timeri N Murari is set in Afghanistan in 2000 during a time when the Taliban allowed the formation of a national cricket team. The story follows Rukshana, a 24-year-old journalist who secretly critiques the Taliban regime and is coerced into marrying a corrupt politician named Wahidi. To escape her fate, she disguises herself as a man and uses her cricketing skills learned in India to train a group of boys to form a cricket team. The tournament offers the promise of coaching abroad for the winners, symbolizing Rukshana's hope for freedom from oppression. This novel explores themes of resistance against misogyny and the quest for personal identity and happiness in the face of extreme violence and authoritarianism.