Sundeep Misra

Sundeep Misra has spent over thirty years chasing Indian sport — sometimes its highs, mostly its heartbreaks, and always its contradictions. A sports journalist by trade and a storyteller by compulsion, he has watched athletes rise, fall, and occasionally disappear into bureaucratic quicksand.

He is the author of Forgive Me Amma, an unauthorized (and therefore more honest) biography of hockey legend Dhanraj Pillay. His second book, The Best of Indian Sports Writing, brought together 16 of the country’s finest bylines — and proved that good sports journalism in India does exist. His third, The Mohammed of Benares and Other Stories, a mix of fiction and fact, was launched in Dhaka, a few days before India won it’s third Asia Cup title. His fourth, Fiercely Female, tells the story of Dutee Chand — a sprinter who ran through prejudice, policy, and patriarchy, and lived to tell the tale.

Sundeep has filed copy from more stadiums than he cares to remember, including Olympic Games, World Cups, and Asian Games. His bylines have appeared in The Indian Express, India Today, The Caravan, The Tribune, Mid-day, Outlook, The Quint, and on more deadline-drenched nights than are good for anyone.

He lives in Delhi, still writing, still waiting for India to inch up the Olympic medal table.