Finished THE book. Here are a few thoughts:
1) The man never stopped loving cricket
There was not a single instance in the book where Sachin felt he was disillusioned with the game over his 24-year international career. It's quite evident and also remarkable that the reason he lasted for much longer than his peers was down to desire as much as skill.
2) The man loves batting and scoring hundreds
At various times while reading the book, I felt that the 41-year old Sachin was still a kid who has just discovered the joy of batting and that's all he can think about. There is a lovely paragraph (while narrating his version of his 200th Test) where he talks about his love for his bats and the way he takes care of them. Also, the amount of time he has spent in the book talking about his centuries and the missed double century in Multan makes it evident that scoring 100's was quite high on his list of priorities. In fact, he even made Dhoni declare late once so that Gambhir and Yuvraj could get to their hundreds.
3) Lack of opinion on the larger issues in cricket
Sachin probably has spent so much time cocooned in his batting that I wonder if he has any opinions on the larger issues that concern the game. There is almost nothing on how the game has evolved, the way pitches have changed character, the evolution of the T20 generation etc. Most of what he talks about is mostly to do with his batting, the games he has been involved in, and the incidents surrounding them. I am not asking for controversial opinions, or any big secret reveals - but a perceptive opinion on the finer aspects of the game is definitely missing. It's quite possible that he does have an opinion, unfortunately it is sorely missing from the book.
4) The time he spent in Yorkshire
The one topic on which I have read the most in my lifetime would be that of Sachin. So, I was quite prepared to not experience any 'Aha!' moments while reading the book. The one section I loved the most was when he spoke about the time he spent while playing as Yorkshire's first overseas cricketer. This is one aspect of his cricketing career that has not seen much literature and it was quite fun reading about how he often drove down wrong roads, and creatively utilized salad bowls to get more quantities.
5) The Fab 4 are there but there is no Azhar
While Sachin has spent some amount of time talking about Sourav, Rahul, and VVS, unfortunately there is nothing on Azhar. Considering that till 2000, a lot of his career was spent playing under Azhar's captaincy, it is almost baffling that he doesn't talk about Azhar's influence as a cricketer or as a captain. I would also have loved it if he had compared the captaincy styles of Azhar, Ganguly, Dravid, and Dhoni. These are things only Sachin can talk about and no other Indian cricketer can due to the sheer longevity of his career.
6) Sachin loves Harbhajan
Of all the cricketers he has played with and against over the course of his career, the cricketer who finds maximum mentions in Sachin's autobiography is actually Harbhajan Singh. There are so many instances where Sachin talks up Harbhajan's performances in a match, it makes one believe that Bhajji was the cricketer who got closest to Sachin. BTW, Sachin also picked up Harbhajan for Mumbai Indians the moment he became available and handed him the captaincy as well when he was unable to play which lends further credence.
7) Sportstar-style rendering
It would have been nicer if Sachin had spent more time talking about how it was to play the game against some of the top bowlers of his time. Instead, all we get is a Sportstar-style rendering with just adjectives being thrown about to describe bowlers. There are instances where he says he stood outside leg, outside the crease, used an open stance etc. but I wish there was more about what went into the mind of one of the greatest batsmen of all time and not on who took how many wickets in a match.
8) Sachin loves eating
There is a hilarious narration of an incident from childhood where Sachin once went to a Chinese restaurant but sadly ended up sitting at the end of the table which meant that by the time the soup and the food reached him, it was almost empty leaving him disappointed. The fact that he chooses to recall this particular 35 year old incident over many others, gives us an insight into his love for food. Of course, his first popular business venture too was a restaurant in Bombay.
If you are looking to read the book, I would recommend waiting till someone lends it to you. But again, you might be as irrational as me and buy it on an impulse in which case all I can say is 'May God (may or may not be another Sachin reference) Help You !'
1) The man never stopped loving cricket
There was not a single instance in the book where Sachin felt he was disillusioned with the game over his 24-year international career. It's quite evident and also remarkable that the reason he lasted for much longer than his peers was down to desire as much as skill.
2) The man loves batting and scoring hundreds
At various times while reading the book, I felt that the 41-year old Sachin was still a kid who has just discovered the joy of batting and that's all he can think about. There is a lovely paragraph (while narrating his version of his 200th Test) where he talks about his love for his bats and the way he takes care of them. Also, the amount of time he has spent in the book talking about his centuries and the missed double century in Multan makes it evident that scoring 100's was quite high on his list of priorities. In fact, he even made Dhoni declare late once so that Gambhir and Yuvraj could get to their hundreds.
3) Lack of opinion on the larger issues in cricket
Sachin probably has spent so much time cocooned in his batting that I wonder if he has any opinions on the larger issues that concern the game. There is almost nothing on how the game has evolved, the way pitches have changed character, the evolution of the T20 generation etc. Most of what he talks about is mostly to do with his batting, the games he has been involved in, and the incidents surrounding them. I am not asking for controversial opinions, or any big secret reveals - but a perceptive opinion on the finer aspects of the game is definitely missing. It's quite possible that he does have an opinion, unfortunately it is sorely missing from the book.
4) The time he spent in Yorkshire
5) The Fab 4 are there but there is no Azhar
While Sachin has spent some amount of time talking about Sourav, Rahul, and VVS, unfortunately there is nothing on Azhar. Considering that till 2000, a lot of his career was spent playing under Azhar's captaincy, it is almost baffling that he doesn't talk about Azhar's influence as a cricketer or as a captain. I would also have loved it if he had compared the captaincy styles of Azhar, Ganguly, Dravid, and Dhoni. These are things only Sachin can talk about and no other Indian cricketer can due to the sheer longevity of his career.
6) Sachin loves Harbhajan
Of all the cricketers he has played with and against over the course of his career, the cricketer who finds maximum mentions in Sachin's autobiography is actually Harbhajan Singh. There are so many instances where Sachin talks up Harbhajan's performances in a match, it makes one believe that Bhajji was the cricketer who got closest to Sachin. BTW, Sachin also picked up Harbhajan for Mumbai Indians the moment he became available and handed him the captaincy as well when he was unable to play which lends further credence.
7) Sportstar-style rendering
It would have been nicer if Sachin had spent more time talking about how it was to play the game against some of the top bowlers of his time. Instead, all we get is a Sportstar-style rendering with just adjectives being thrown about to describe bowlers. There are instances where he says he stood outside leg, outside the crease, used an open stance etc. but I wish there was more about what went into the mind of one of the greatest batsmen of all time and not on who took how many wickets in a match.
8) Sachin loves eating
There is a hilarious narration of an incident from childhood where Sachin once went to a Chinese restaurant but sadly ended up sitting at the end of the table which meant that by the time the soup and the food reached him, it was almost empty leaving him disappointed. The fact that he chooses to recall this particular 35 year old incident over many others, gives us an insight into his love for food. Of course, his first popular business venture too was a restaurant in Bombay.
If you are looking to read the book, I would recommend waiting till someone lends it to you. But again, you might be as irrational as me and buy it on an impulse in which case all I can say is 'May God (may or may not be another Sachin reference) Help You !'
3 comments:
Superb review Ramesh...very insightful...spot on....keep writing...
I am yet to read the book. i am planning to buy one with you in chennai next month.:)
i agree on 3 he should have spoken about evolution of T20 .
On point 5. i am sure he doesnt want to touch the "Untouchable". if he starts talking about azar then he must talk about his end as well. Azhar's end is related to fixing.
there is a chapter IPL? isn't it talking about t20?
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