I got my copy of Playing It My Way, the autobiography of Sachin Tendulkar a few days back. And I am thoroughly disappointed with the book. Not that I had high hopes earlier either, but this book falls well short of what even a decent autobiography should be.
All these years, we have desperately waited for Sachin to come out in the open and reveal the person within. He has guarded his private life zealously, has seldom spoken against anybody and has always been politically correct. It was the best thing to do in his playing days and he always let his bat do the talking.
But autobiographies are not meant for that. He seems to be playing to his public image, cautious enough while writing lest it may offend someone or cause a controversy. The book contains a useless litany of his performances in matches but haven’t we read all that countless number of times? We already have the match reports of Cricinfo or Wisden for that.
Apart from the incidents in which he was centrally involved, he has skirted away from most of the controversial issues of his times, most notably the match fixing saga. Mike Denness affair, Greg Chappel’s coaching stint, and the Monkey-gate scandal find their mention in detail but there should have been more. There is no mention of Vinod Kambli’s slump and it is impossible to believe that Tendulkar didn’t have an opinion on this. Did he counsel Kambli? If yes, did or did not Kambli heed to his advice?
BCCI has been praised almost everywhere, apart from his tiff with selectors when he was the captain. BCCI, as we have all seen in recent times, is far from an honest organization. More often than not, it has started acting as a bully off the field. Why doesn't he use his image and influence to improve India's standing in the world as an efficient and just leader which is not just greedy for money?
Autobiographies are meant to reveal the inner thoughts of a person, his view of the world, and his opinions of the circumstances and people around him. There’s hardly any mention of any mistakes that Sachin might have committed on or off the field which he regrets, neither any apology towards anybody. In a 24 year long international career, it is simply not possible.
As has been the case with most highly awaited and hyped movies and books, this book has failed to live up to its expectations. This book could have served as a source of inspiration to many youngsters who look up to him and want to emulate his feats. Instead, it disappoints on almost all accounts. It will sell because it is Sachin’s autobiography. But if you want to read a genuine sports’ autobiography, I would recommend Open by Andre Agassi, and Beyond A Boundary by CLR James.
BCCI has been praised almost everywhere, apart from his tiff with selectors when he was the captain. BCCI, as we have all seen in recent times, is far from an honest organization. More often than not, it has started acting as a bully off the field. Why doesn't he use his image and influence to improve India's standing in the world as an efficient and just leader which is not just greedy for money?
Autobiographies are meant to reveal the inner thoughts of a person, his view of the world, and his opinions of the circumstances and people around him. There’s hardly any mention of any mistakes that Sachin might have committed on or off the field which he regrets, neither any apology towards anybody. In a 24 year long international career, it is simply not possible.
As has been the case with most highly awaited and hyped movies and books, this book has failed to live up to its expectations. This book could have served as a source of inspiration to many youngsters who look up to him and want to emulate his feats. Instead, it disappoints on almost all accounts. It will sell because it is Sachin’s autobiography. But if you want to read a genuine sports’ autobiography, I would recommend Open by Andre Agassi, and Beyond A Boundary by CLR James.
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