Ranji is enshrined in popular perception as the sporting icon who electrified Victorian England and scored over 25,000 runs without ever ‘playing a Christian stroke’. But there was a lot more to the ‘mysterious prince of Hindoo’, and much of it doesn’t quite fit with the extant stereotype of the charming, generous sportsman, progressive ruler and enlightened statesman. The picture that emerges from this long-overdue political biography is that of HRH ...
