PLAYING IT MY WAY-Autobiography of Sachin Tendulkar

AUTHORS:Sachin TendulkarBoria Majumdar

@sanchit0496

AUTHORS Sachin Tendulkar & Boria Majumdar

COUNTRY IndiaLANGUAGE EnglishGENRE AutobiographyPUBLISHER Hodder &

Stoughton (worldwide)Hachette India (In the subcontinent

PUBLISHING DATE 5 November 2014

MEDIA TYPE Print (Hardcover)PAGES 486ISBN NO. 978-14-736-0520-6

INFORMATION ABOUT THE BOOK

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Sachin Tendulkar & Boria Majumdar

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is a former Indian cricketer and  captain, widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time. He is the the only player to complete more than 30,000 runs in international cricket.

Boria Majumdar is an Indian sports journalist and author.  He completed BA & MA in history from University of Calcutta. He was awarded DPhil in history from University of Oxford in 2004. 

CONTENTSThe Autobiography has 28 chapters, covering every aspect of the author’s life, along with the dedication ,acknowledgement and the prologue page.

THE CHILDHOOD,LEARNING THE GAME& THE FIRST TOUR

When Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar made his test debut against Pakistan as a 16 year old, little did the world know that the curly-haired teenager would one day become one of the greatest legends of the game.

Childhood & Early Life He was born as the youngest of four siblings to Ramesh

Tendulkar, a Marathi novelist and Rajni, who worked in the insurance industry. He was named after his father’s favorite music director, Sachin Dev Burman.

As a young boy he was a bully. His older brother encouraged him to play cricket in order to divert his attention from fights and got him enrolled at the academy of the coach, Ramakant Achrekar.

He went to Sharadashram Vidyamandir High School at the advice of Achrekar as the school had a rich cricketing tradition. He shone as a star cricketer playing for his school.

Along with his friend Vinod Kambli, he was involved in a record 664-run partnership in an inter school match against St. Xavier’s High School in 1988.

SACHIN’S EARLY YEARS OF CRICKET

• School: Sharadashram Vidyamandir where he began his cricketing career

• Coach and mentor : Ramakant Achrekar.

• First professional camp : MRF Pace Foundation to train as a fast bowler

• Chief coach Dennis Lillee was unimpressed with his bowling and suggested that he focus on his batting instead.

• Achrekar would put a coin on the top of the stumps, and the bowler who dismissed Tendulkar would win the coin.

• If Tendulkar passed the whole session without getting dismissed, the coach would give him the coin.

• Tendulkar now considers the 13 coins he won then as some of his most prized possessions.

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ANJALI

(THE BEST PARTNERSHIP

HE HAD)

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 The two of them first met at the Mumbai International Airport. Sachin was returning from his first international cricket tour in 1990 while Anjali was at the airport to receive her mother. Later, the two met at a common friend’s place and got to know each other better. On May 24, 1995, after a five-year long period of dating each other ,these two got married. 

Also, at the launch of Sachin's autobiography, Playing It My Way, Anjali shared a few interesting secrets of their courtship days. And, here they are:

She told that she used to write letters to Sachin just to save on international telephone bills.

She also mentioned that she used to walk across 46 acres in darkness and brave goons to call Sachin in New Zealand.

Anjli also revealed that she went to Sachin's house for the first time disguised as a journalist.

1996 WORLD CUP

AND THE CAPTAINCY

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He first took over as skipper in 1996 but by 1997 the team was performing so poorly that he was dropped from the position.

Here’s what he had to say about his captaincy :

“To me, cricket is team work and not about individuals. There are stages where captain come into play and captain will guide, take important decisions on the field but eventually the batsmen would have to go out and score runs and the bowlers have to land the ball in those areas”.

“My tenure was not long enough and it was a big disappointment for me to overcome”.

o Captaincy Record in TestsHe captained India in 25 test matches, between 1996 to 2000. (4 vs Australia, 3 vs New Zealand, 8 vs South Africa, 5 vs Sri Lanka and 5 vs West Indies). He won 4 tests, lost 9 and drew 12 tests as captain of Indian test team. Tendulkar made 2054 runs as captain with 7 centuries, average of 51.35, best of 217 and even took 4 wickets with best bowling of 3 for 10 wkts against South Africa. 

o Captaincy Record in ODIsSachin Tendulkar lead India in 73 ODI (8 vs Australia, 1 vs Bangladesh, 1 vs England, 6 vs New Zealand, 21 vs Pakistan, 10 vs South Africa, 13 vs Sri Lanka, 7 vs West Indies & 6 vs Zimbabwe)He won 23, lost 43, tied once and 6 were no results.

As captain plus batsman, Tendulkar made 2454 ODI runs at an average of only 37.75 with best score of 186* vs New Zealand along side 6 centuries and took 11 wickets.

THE 2003 WORLD CUP

(THE TIME HE ALMOST MADE IT)@sanchit049

6

THE BEGINNING OF THE QUEST Sachin Tendulkar produced a fairytale run in the 2003 World Cup.

 In the 2003 World Cup, he didn't bat a single ball in the nets, right through the tournament. He only got throw-downs. He just received hundreds of throw-downs through the whole tournament.

"All were wondering ,”Why is he doing that?” When Rahul Dravid asked him, he said, “I'm feeling good. I don't want to go into the nets and waste the touch. I want to feel good about my batting. If I have that sort of feeling, I will score runs when I go in.”

The team’s underwhelming performances in South Africa so far were not going down well with supporters at home and some irate fans had vented their fury that evening by throwing tar at Mohammad Kaif’s home in Uttar Pradesh. It was alarming to read about the hostile reaction in India and Sachin eventually had to issue a formal appeal, in the form of a media release, to try to pacify the fans. This had some effect and they were able to concentrate once again on the task at hand.

INDIA V/S PAKISTAN 2003 The first time he heard people talking about the India–

Pakistan fixture at Centurion Park on 1 March 2003 was exactly a year earlier, when some of his friends had been discussing it with great excitement.

The intensity of the game was such that he could not sleep properly for three nights before the game. If there was ever a match everyone wanted to win, it was this one. The nation would brook no failure and for many of our fans this was the true final. It really did not matter to them what happened in the rest of the tournament, as long as we managed to beat Pakistan at Centurion.

During the break he hardly spoke to anyone at all. Nor did he eat much. In fact, for most of the time he had his headphones on and listened to music, trying to work himself into the right frame of mind.

During the innings break, he didn’t ate much. He just had a big bowl of ice cream and a banana to give himself some energy and asked Parthiv Patel to let him know as soon as the umpires had walked out to the middle. When they were in position, Sachin picked up his bat and went out to start the run chase.

Sachin took the strike on that day as they needed to play out the initial burst from the Pakistani fast bowlers. Needless to say, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar were capable of doing a lot of early damage.

He scored 98 runs in this match. Sachin ranks this innings as one of the best he ever played because of the immense pressure it was played under. Each boundary brought him an ovation from the raucous crowd.

After winning the match, the team decided to go out for

something to eat. It was close to midnight and they ended up going to a roadside stall for Chinese food. However he forgot his MOM award at the food stall himself. The team manager immediately called the stall and told the stall owner about the same. The team then rushed back and, to their enormous relief, an elderly lady handed over the bag with a smile.

THE FINALS V/S AUSTRALIA When the team got to the ground the next match day,

they immediately went over to take a look at the surface. There was some moisture in the pitch and, given it was a day game, the fast bowlers were sure to get some early assistance. The team decided to field first if they won the toss. And that’s what they did, but the decision turned out to be a disaster, with Ricky Ponting playing one of the best one-day innings of all time making 140 .Australia scored a mammoth 359 in their fifty overs.

The team was highly disappointed after this. But in the team discussion at the interval Sachin reckoned that they needed to hit one boundary every over and then score the remaining 160 runs in 250 balls. It was an attempt to be positive, as there was no other option left to them at that point.

In the middle of the innings there was some light drizzle and it turned really dark. This time the whole team was praying for rain and hoping that the match would be washed out, forcing a re-match the next day. But that didn’t happened.

In my disappointment, Sachin did not even noticed that the bat he was presented with as the Man of the Tournament was made of gold and was specially crafted. Most of the players were still upset and were in no mood to talk. It would take a long time to get over the disappointment.

Here’s what he had to say after the WC 2003

“Looking back, the 2003 World Cup remains a bitter-sweet memory. We played some excellent cricket as a team and I contributed well in almost all of the matches–but not in the final. Beating England and Pakistan were unforgettable high points, but the World Cup trophy was still eluding me. “

UNDER THE KNIFE

INJURY OVER THE YEARS

INJURY COUNT His injury count started way back in 1999. In March-April that

year a back injury forced Sachin out of the tri-series featuring Pakistan and Sri Lanka at home and the tri-series featuring Pakistan and England at Sharjah.

His toe-injury, which often flares up, dates back to 2001. Then he was forced to sit out of the tri-series against New Zealand and hosts Sri Lanka.

The year 2002 proved to be a bad one for Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar. A thigh injury in 2002 kept him out of a One-Day series against Zimbabwe and in the same year a hamstring injury kept him away from playing the West Indies at home.

In 2003 Sachin Tendulkar was out due to an ankle injury. Later that year a finger injury kept him away from the game.

Sachin Tendulkar was out of action for most part of 2004 and 2005 owing to his tennis elbow injury .Later, he had to undergo a surgery for the problem. 

In 2006 Sachin Tendulkar went through a shoulder surgery and the next year saw him out of action with a broken knee. 

In 2008, Sachin Tendulkar missed matches in the inaugural season of Indian Premier League due to a groin injury.

In January 2012, Sachin Tendulkar was ruled out of the remainder of the ODI series against South Africa after injuring his right hamstring during the second ODI at the Wanderers.

S. Badrinath replaced Sachin Tendulkar in the Indian ODI squad for the 2012 NatWest Series against England after a toe-injury ruined the Master Blaster's tour.

ICC WORLD CUP 2007 For the 2007 tournament, India had what was considered a decent

World Cup squad, as they had three batsmen who had scored more than 10,000 ODI runs , world class spin bowlers , destructive batsmen , and a decent pace bowling attack led by Zaheer Khan.

India's World Cup campaign started disastrously, as they unexpectedly lost to minnows Bangladesh in their opening match, leaving them with two must-win matches in their group.  India won the lopsided game by 257 runs against Bermuda. But they still needed to beat Sri Lanka in their last group match in order to enter the Super Eight stage. However The match against Sri Lanka on 23 March 2007 turned out to be a one-sided contest. Chasing 255, the Indian batting crumbled against the Sri Lankan bowling attack, crashing to 185 all out in the 44th over. India's hopes of entering the Super Eight stage were now grim and with Bangladesh beating Bermuda, India crashed out of the World Cup in the first round, the first time since 1992.

There were no positives India could take from the tournament, barring the heavy win against Bermuda. Apart from Sehwag, Ganguly and Yuvraj, who scored 164, 162 and 136 runs respectively, no other Indian batsman could accumulate even 100 runs. The bowling was even more pathetic, with Zaheer being India's best bowler with 5 wickets.

After the debacle, Kumble retired from ODI cricket, while coach Greg Chappell resigned after reports that none of the senior players, including Tendulkar, were happy with him and his coaching methods. However, Dravid retained the captaincy.

There were several attacks on players homes and protests by infuriated fans, especially in Bangalore and Mumbai. The media started making cheap remarks about the players, questioning their capabilities and repeatedly started asking senior players like Tendulkar, Dravid and Ganguly about their retirement.

CONTROVERSY WITH GREG CHAPPELLBelow are some extracts from the autobiography itself

o “After the 2007 WC disaster ,our coach Greg Chappell, was publicly questioning our commitment and”

o “Chappell seemed intent on dropping all the older players .On one occasion, he asked VVS Laxman to consider opening the batting .Laxman politely turned him down, saying he had tried opening in the first half of his career because he was confused, but now he was settled in the middle order and Greg should consider him as a middle-order batsman. Greg’s response stunned us all. He told Laxman he should be careful, because making a comeback at the age of thirty-two might not be easy.”

“I also remember that every time India won, Greg could be seen leading the team to the hotel or into the team bus, but every time India lost he would thrust the players in front.”

“Just months before the World Cup, Chappell had come to see me at home and, to my dismay, suggested that I should take over the captaincy from Rahul Dravid. Anjali, who was sitting with me, was equally shocked to hear him say that ‘together, we could control Indian cricket for years,’ and that he would help me in taking over the reins of the side. I was surprised to hear the coach not showing the slightest amount of respect for the captain, with cricket’s biggest tournament just months away. I rejected his proposition outright. He stayed for a couple of hours, trying to convince me, before finally leaving.”

CONTD.

2011 WORLD CUP

(CELEBRATING A BILLION DREAMS)

A BILLION DREAMS As one of the host nations for the 2011 World

Cup, India were expected to perform well in familiar conditions, and were considered pre-tournament favourites by the media and press.

“It felt astonishing. It was a kind of satisfaction I had never experienced before. Cricket’s greatest prize was finally ours.”

WINDING DOWN AND THE FINAL

TEST

FINAL DISMISSION

THE SCORECARD

India won the match by an innings and 126 runs

•Sachin: The Story of the World's Greatest Batsman by Gulu Ezekiel.

•The A to Z of Sachin Tendulkar by Gulu Ezekiel.

•Sachin Tendulkar-a definitive biography by Vaibhav Purandare.

•Sachin Tendulkar – Masterful by Peter Murray, Ashish Shukla.

•If Cricket is a Religion, Sachin is God by Vijay Santhanam, Shyam Balasubramanian

•Master Stroke: 100 Centuries of Sachin Tendulkar by Neelima Athalye.

•Dhruvtara, was launched as an audio book on Monday, 15 October 2012 to mark White Cane Day.

Sachin’s Major Biographies

LIMCA BOOK OF RECORDS The autobiography, published by Hachette India, was

released on Nov 6, 2014 and has broken all records for an adult hardback across both fiction and non-fiction categories with 1,50,289 copies confirmed on order subscriptions. The book's orders, on day one, already saw it pulling ahead of both pre-order and lifetime sales of the world's top adult hardbacks Dan Brown's Inferno, Walter Issacson's Steve Jobs and JK Rowling's Casual Vacancy.

This autobiography could be purchased from any online retailer shops, prices may vary from site to site.

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SANCHIT (129) LNCT

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