Over the weekend, I read Sachin Tendulkar's autobiography, ghost written by Prof. Boria Majumdar and published by the British publishing house Hodder & Stoughton. Before discussing the book, I ought to make my standpoint clear. I have had no interest in his personal life off the field. His cricket held my interest endlessly. I have watched Tendulkar play a million different innings. I have watched him use different techniques for different bowlers in the same innings. I have watched him bowl off-breaks to lefties and leg-breaks to righties, turn every ball hard and land nearly every ball perfectly. I've watched him bowl seam-up and clip the top of off-stump. I've watched him struggle in his prime and I've watched him blow high quality attacks away when he was 38. I've watched him block for two hours and I've watched him end contests in 20 minutes. I watched him play bowlers and I've watched him play the ball. I've watched him at his best and I've watched him at his worst. And he was a mighty fine sight every time.
I'm sure many of you have watched all this too. I've often been asked, on account of my unnatural interest in our sport, who my favorite cricketers were. I've never ever said Tendulkar. And yet, I know more about his career than I do of any other individual player.
Perhaps this is why I couldn't shake off the feeling that Tendulkar was telling me things I already knew. His account is minutely detailed at times. He recounts sequences of strokes and takes us deep inside innings. Its like watching a youtube clip of one of his innings while he's describing it to you. Much of the book consists of accounts like this. Tendulkar starts at the beginning and ends with his dismissal for 74 off Narsingh Deonarine's off-break. Along the way, there are flashes of anger. The only time he was furious, we learn, was when Rahul Dravid declared to leave him 194 not out at Multan. Mike Denness is mentioned only briefly. Tendulkar points out that the umpires did not lodge a complaint against him and furthermore, Denness did not think it was necessary for the umpires to think that tampering was intended in order for the charge (brought by Denness) to be upheld (by Denness). Monkeygate is also discussed briefly. But other than that, much of the book is a catalogue of innings, injuries, surgeries and celebrations.
There are errors. Nasser Hussain is referred to as the England captain in 1996. Michael Atherton was captain. There are also the usual anecdotes about teammates and opponents. Banter. On that 1996 tour to England Tendulkar remembers an episode in which Navjot Singh Sidhu and Sourav Ganguly encountered some drunks on the Tube in London. Tendulkar's account of this episode begins with the words "Off the pitch, one incident from this tour is difficult to forget..... ". That Navjot Sidhu walked out of the tour midway is not brought up.
Such omissions are common. Like Sidhu's walk out, match-fixing and spot-fixing are similarly airbrushed out of Tendulkar's sporting life. That Boria Majumdar agreed to this is a tribute to that trained Rhodes scholar historian's ability to, shall we say, compartmentalize. It must be remembered though, that this is Tendulkar's account and it is clear that Tendulkar did not wish discuss match-fixing. Majumdar's role was less historian or writer and more that of an old-fashioned secretary. Secretaries are keepers of secrets.
Tendulkar did wish to discuss Greg Chappell's tenure as India coach. Chappell denies that he wanted Tendulkar to replace Dravid as captain. But Chappell's claim that his meeting with Tendulkar took place "at least 12 months earlier than what was reported in the book." is plainly false. Malcolm Knox who worked with Chappell on his book and read his personal diary reports that Chappell's diary contains an entry about a meeting at Tendulkar's house in May 2006. Since Tendulkar says the infamous meeting took place "just a few months before the 2007 World Cup", Tendulkar's recollection does seem to be more plausible than Chappell's denial. What they discussed, is anybody's guess. Diaries, like secretaries are also keepers of secrets. That Tendulkar thinks Chappell was less than helpful, is not. Even Ian Chappell, we learn, later felt the sting of this disapproval.
Strangely, Tendulkar is also silent about Rahul Dravid abruptly quitting the captaincy in 2007, and is generally muted about the Bangalorean maestro. Perhaps there is a story to be told there.
The book is biased towards to recent past. 12 of the 28 chapters are about the period after 2005. His first eleven years are recounted in 8 chapters. These include both his tenures as captain. There are some brief comments about his difficulties with the selectors and the zonal selection policy. But these are generally cautious. The one player he does mention is Abey Kuruvilla who he wanted on the tour to South Africa in the 1996-97 season. Strangely, for all the talk of zonal selection, 9 players on that Indian touring squad were from the South Zone.
Perhaps the most glaring cricketing omission from the autobiography is a discussion about playing for Bombay (later Mumbai). The Ranji Trophy final of the 1990-91 season is not mentioned at all. His teammates are not discussed either. The sense that Tendulkar played a team sport is underplayed to the point of omission. At the other end of the scale, hindi is the device which invites us into the Indian dressing room. One gets the impression that Tendulkar enjoyed being a respected elder in the side far more than he enjoyed being a young player.
If it is your hope to understand Indian cricket over the last 25 years, then Sachin Tendulkar's autobiography should be low down on the list of books you would want to read. Playing it my way is a measured account. It does not paint the grand picture that a sprawling career like Tendulkar's deserves. Nor does it attempt to capture the historical arc of Indian cricket from 1988 to 2014. To really know the cricketer, watch videos of his batting. If the man interests you, then you are out of luck. For me, the batting has always been enough.
I recommend that you buy the book. All the proceeds which accrue to Tendulkar are to go to the Apnalaya children's home. This is another aspect of his life about which Tendulkar is silent in the book. Perhaps appropriately so.