Over the summer, I read the autobiography of Sachin Tendulkar, one of the most celebrated Indian cricket players of all time, and one of the best to play the game ever. He talked about his childhood, his strive to make it to the Indian team, and how he became one of the best cricket players in the world.
In this book, he spoke about his early years, when he used to go outside and play with his friends, how naughty he was, his interests in watching tennis and cricket, and so forth. In my opinion, the moment that changed his life the most was when his brother Ajit brought him to Ramakant Achrekar’s cricket camp. There, he learnt all about cricket, the techniques to understand the bowlers mind and how they may throw the next ball, etc. It truly changed his life.
I feel that Sachin Tendulkar had a very hard journey to the top, compared to most sportspersons in India. For example, he had to endure the torture of carrying his heavy bag in the bus to reach his cricket ground. Getting onto a bus is a challenge that anyone from Mumbai would understand. Waiting, boarding, standing through the long journey in traffic, getting off the bus, and then walking to the field. Not only that, it was the same ordeal on the way back. Besides, this was daily routine, 7 days a week. Also, his coach, Achrekar Sir, as he called him, trained everyone not to wear helmets. So he would get hurt a lot. The most fascinating of all, is that he played professional cricket at the same high quality he always played for an astonishing 24 years. He started at age 16, and retired at age 40! This was not an easy task. It is fascinating to read about how he managed his health and fitness all through his career carrying the expectation of a nation on his shoulders every time he stepped on the field. You would appreciate it if you read it yourself.
All in all, Sachin Tendulkar is one of the best ever to play the game. He has scored 100 international centuries (100 runs in an innings when he came to bat). The second highest is around 71 and no one playing modern cricket is even close to 50. He is like the Pele of Soccer OR Roger Federer of Tennis… Rest I will leave it to you to read his book. The details of the book are as below:
Name: Sachin Tendulkar, Playing it my Way. My Autobiography
Author: Boria Majumdar
Paperback ISBN: 978 1 473 60517 6
Ebook ISBN: 978 1 473 60519 0
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd.
So, what do you think ?