Book Details
Off the Field
by Manyata
Release date to be announced
A word before you begin
For those who prefer to know precisely which fictional circumstances they are about to become attached to.
Advik Malhotra has his future in cricket all figured out. The only problem? Yuhaan Malik, his cocky, ridiculously talented rival, who he can’t stand. Or so he thought, until one forbidden kiss changes everything.
With Yuhaan wanting more than one night, they strike a deal: no feelings, no expectations, and nothing beyond the sheets. But between fierce on-field competition and the quiet intimacy they find off it, keeping things casual is proving harder than either expected.
In a sport where love could cost them their careers, falling for each other was never part of the plan.
Off the Field deals with heavy emotional themes. It contains on-page self-harm, anxiety and mental health struggles, grief and the loss of a parent, and explicit sexual content between two consenting adults. Please read with care.
The mind behind the story
- BL reader and cricket fan
- Started on Wattpad
- Love, healing, identity
- Forbidden romance, always
I write queer stories about love, healing, identity, and fighting for the people you love.
Read my full bio
I started out sharing my work on Wattpad, and that community is a big reason I kept writing.
I like writing queer love in hypermasculine spaces like Indian cricket. Off the Field is where all of that meets.
Follow Manyata: Instagram @author_manyata_
Quick fire
Short answers from Manyata. Hover to pause.
Three words for Off the Field
Sad. Hot. Funny.
Favourite trope to write
Forbidden romance.
Every time. No notes.
The colour of the book
Yellow.
Warmth, sunshine, and being each other’s home.
Warning label
Emotional damage and extremely down-bad men.
The fictional red flag
Someone so intrigued by another person that they start learning every little detail about them. With a little toxicity mixed in.
Fictional appeal only. Not relationship advice.
If the characters had a group chat
Pinned by Yuhaanwake up dumbfuckers practice starts in 20
Author extras
From Manyata's Desk
Confessions, opinions, and a few things about Advik and Yuhaan that might explain why their story got so complicated.
What inspired Off the Field?
I read a lot of BL and I watch a lot of cricket, and at some point I realised I wanted both in the same book.
I also wanted a queer love story that felt Indian, set somewhere as loud and public as cricket. Basically, I wrote the book I kept looking for.
The character who started it all
Advik. He came first, and he's very close to my heart.
Golden boy on the outside, carrying a lot on the inside, and he keeps getting back up anyway. I'm a little protective of him.
Which character surprised you most?
Yuhaan. I thought I was writing the arrogant rival. Then he turned out to be soft, protective and completely gone for Advik, and I just had to go with it.
Down bad doesn't begin to cover it.
Your most unreasonable writing opinion
Messy characters over perfect ones. Always.
Give me characters who are too emotional, a little obsessive, and soft at exactly the wrong moments.
“He has let me see him at his rawest, his most vulnerable, his weakest, his worst days laid bare in front of me and still there is nowhere else on this godforsaken planet I would rather be than right here beside him.”
Music and mood
The Off the Field Playlist
Manyata's writing playlist. Not an official soundtrack.