K.R.Guruprasad, an assistant editor with DNA, Mumbai, tells the story of eleven cricketers who made it to international cricket with style.

The cricketers to feature in this excellent book are Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Santhakumaran Sreesanth, Virender Sehwag, Ashok Dinda, Munaf Patel, Suresh Raina, Vinay Kumar, Iqbal Abdullah, Praveen Kumar, Ravindra Jadeja and Harbhajan Singh.Going Places talks about these eleven cricketers, who came from lower middle-class backgrounds, some even poor, but that did not stop them from earning the India cap and inspiring millions of youngsters.

A combination of a supportive family, a determined coach, talent and sheer hard work did the trick for them. Without this mix, the gentleman's game would have lost these gifted players to farming, a job in Africa or driving or driving a truck in Canada.

Guruprasad believes Sachin Tendulkar's success, especially, fired many youngsters with enthusiasm. His face graced hundreds of hoardings, selling everything from soft drinks to sports equipment. He became one of the youngest self-made millionaires in the country. For Indian boys, he became what Michael Jordan was to American youngsters.

According to the author, "Karnataka became the first state to have a crop of small-town cricketers represent India. The success of Javagal Srinath from Mysore, David Johnson from Arasikere and Sunil Joshi from Gadag was the beginnings of a trend. Today, Uttar Pradesh exemplfies the story of cricketers emerging from the hinterland like no other area in India."

In a chapter on Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the author says a reputable financial company calls the phenomenon of small-town people taking centre stage in various walks of life the 'Dhoni Effect'. Better roads and railway networks, multiple televison channels and access to the internet have raised aspirations across India - and even shown the way in some cases. Dhoni's success story is sure to inspire thousands of budding cricketers.

K.R.Guruprasad, while growing up in a small town called Bellary on the Andhra-Karnataka border, used to wake up neighbours early morning so that he would watch cricket matches on their television sets.