Some think of Wisden and see a dusty old man in a yellow jacket. But wake up and smell the spices - Wisden has gone subcontinental. Wisden Asia Cricket magazine is launched today, on the eve of the Test series between India and England. It is a younger sister for the award-winning Wisden Cricket Monthly, set up in surburban Guildford 22 years ago by David Frith. But this new magazine hasn't a sniff of the leafy streets of Surrey.

It operates from a sixth-floor office in Mumbai, above the famous Crossword bookshop and near the Ghetto - a late-night club for Bombay bohemians. The magazine is kick-started by a regular supply of dosas and chai, and powered by a young editorial team under Sambit Bal, former editor of Gentleman and Total Cricket.

Bal handpicked a coterie of cricket nuts, fine writers and Liverpool FC obsessives in H Natarajan, Amit Varma, Dileep Premachandran, Leslie Matthew, Rahul Bhattacharya and S Rajesh to produce the only all-cricket magazine in Asia, as well as supplying Wisden.com with daily coverage of India. From Punjab to Bangalore, they are all Indian, and the magazine they have produced, published by Spenta Multimedia, is distinctly Asian.

Sourav Ganguly scowls from the cover as part of a big feature on the Indian captaincy - "Cricket's hardest job". VVS Laxman talks you through his 281, and Tony Greig rhapsodises about the joys of touring India. Jagmohan Dalmiya is pointed firmly in the right direction by Ayaz Memon, we discover the real story behind Nayan Mongia, and Barry Richards dares to give technical advice to Sachin Tendulkar.

There are many similarities with WCM - match reports, book reviews, and the Openers section remain. Wisden.com columnists Chris Ryan, Lawrence Booth and Kamran Abbasi all contribute. And both magazines are designed by the same man, Nigel Davies, the only art director WCM has ever had. The cover price of 25 rupees (about 40p) is a bit lighter on the pocket, but fairly standard for a monthly magazine in India.

The magazine will be launched formally at 6.30 tonight at the Chandigarh golf club, with dinner and lethal cocktails. It will reach the shops in the UK in due course.

Tanya Aldred is assistant editor of Wisden.com.

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