REVIEWING IT MY WAY

The title says it all!!
Yes!It is about his book,the man who gave a new definition to the cricketing world.A man who served 24 valuable years of his life for the Indian cricket.He set many milestones.He broke his own records.His life between the 22 yards for 24 years (his words during his farewell speech) was defiant,yet it is hard to believe that the wonderful journey has come to an end. We may not see him batting on the turf again,but i'm sure that he will be an inspiration for every emerging young cricketer and like an AURA for the Indian team.

"Playing It My Way" is the autobiography of the legendary cricketer Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar which was launched two months ago.

Two or three of my friends who completed reading this book told me that the book was quite boring and at the same time intriguing. Boring because of the fact that the author stressed mostly on nuances of cricket,how he faced different bowlers in different conditions,how he missed his hundreds etc etc. And interested in knowing about his personal life and the dressing room dramas etc which never came outside.

So,to be honest,I started reading this book with a preconceived opinion in mind. but in the course of time,after having finished reading a few pages i realized that Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar(SRT) who started playing cricket at a very early age of 16,spending most of his life time playing cricket away from home will obviously have a lot to say about the game. But then a reader who is not very much acquainted to this game would undoubtedly find this part boring.I,infact enjoyed reading this book being an ardent fan of the game ever since my childhood. After reading this book my perception towards SRT and the game changed and now i'm looking at the game with a new perspective. 

SRT is one among the very few Indian cricketers who shared the dressing room with players from both the worldcup winning teams.

Albeit,the fact that his wife being elder to him by roughly 6-7 years,never in this book he mentioned about this,despite having written a whole chapter about her titled ANJALI..

"HARDWORK ALWAYS PAYS OFF"The best example for this proverb is SRT. Many people think that he is a gifted player. But being gifted is not everything. Infact everyone on this planet is gifted with some or the other skill,this is what I beleive in. But,despite the fact that he was a gifted player,he never took it for granted,he never got carried away,he never gave up. He was always poignant and hardworking.

For suppose,consider his own friend,Vinod Kambli. We heard many of the Indian cricketers talking about him in many occasions. What everyone say about him is that he is equally gifted as SRT but he couldn't come into the limelight unlike SRT. So being gifted is not all!
SRT in his book described this part beautifully on how he practiced,worked hard,how he enjoyed the game,his passion towards the game and how he learnt the nuances of the game,which is hard to explain.

SUPERSTITUOUS INDIA

SRT is a superstitious man as he penned down in his own book PLAYING IT MY WAY that before every tour he made it a ritual to visit 4 places in MUMBAI.

1)ARCHEKAR SIR(his coach)

2)HIS AUNT'S HOUSE near Shivaji park where he stayed for 4 years in his childhood as his parents felt that the travelling which he did from school(near Shivaji park) to Bandra(his actual home) was getting too much.

3)The TEMPLE in Shivaji park
4)SIDDI VINAYAK TEMPLE

Such was his beleif in GOD.

Unsurprisingly,as SRT describes in his book,many of our Indian players were superstituous,so much so that, the players in the dressing room would not move from their places when the players on field were doing well in the ground,fearing that they would get out,if they moved from their respective places.If we look back, many of us might have done such things and being superstitious and following superstitions doesn't surprise me and i think are pretty common in a country like India.

ON AND OFF FIELD DRAMAS

Now here's the interesting part of the book. The readers will surely enjoy reading and knowing about many things which never came out. There will be atleast one interesting incident in every chapter of the book which keeps the readers glued to the book. One should read this book atleast to know about these incidents.

>> Unfortunately or Fortunately SRT is the first ever batsman to be given out by a 3RD Umpire.

>>SRT also shared something which he said was personal and never told it before. Just a day before a match  he  had stomach upset which continued the next day also. So he had to keep tissues inside is underwear and go out for bat.

>>GREG CHAPPEL

    After reading this book ,one can know that, many senior players in the Indian team, then didn't want GREG to continue as a coach.The reasons not being mentioned.

>>There is this famous incident while India was playing against Pakistan in Multan. SRT and Virender Sehwag started batting on the second day morning. At TEA time SRT was told that India will be playing 15 more overs as the,then,stand-in skipper Rahul Dravid wanted to give Pakistan an hour to bat before the lights went off. A little later when SRT was on 194  he was sent a message to try to get his double hundred in the running over itself as the skipper wants to declare the innings right after that over. He was still 6 runs short and finally ended up going to the dressing room without getting a single ball to play. The whole team was surprised at the decision. SRT mentioned that he made his way to the dressing room without showing any disgust. He also mentioned that Rahul Dravid,Ganguly and John Wright(the coach then) came to him and apologised and tried to convince that the decision was made in the interests of the team.

This incident didn't have any impact on their friendship as their camaraderie remained intact till the end of their careers.

>>In a separate incident SRT and Dravid were at the crease playing against the KIWIS. Chris Cairns was bowling very beautifully that day and the batsman couldn't predict what kind of bowl he was bowling.SRT being at he non striker end used to watch how the bowler was holding the ball and eventually signalled Dravid on what sort of ball the bowler was bowling. He used to hold his bat in his left arm to indicate the ball would be an in-swinger and in the right hand to indicate the ball would swing out. If he couldn't make out what kind of ball he was bowling he would place he bat in the middle .

His FAREWELL SPEECH was terrific and was emotional too.

In his Farewell speech he remembers his father's words and mentions that his father always wanted him to be a GOOD PERSON more than anything and everything.

PLAYING IT MY WAY,one of the bestsellers in the Indian market is a good book to read.

Out of the only few books which i read till date,i found this one a bit dull and prolonging.It took me a little less than a fortnight to complete the whole book.

But then this book will not only be an inspiration for upcoming cricketers but also for every individual who wants to achieve great things in life.

                                                                                                                                      sid...