Aila! Sachin!

Abigail Menezes.

No:- 3752

The book " Sachin : The story of the World's Greatest Batsman" has been written by the well known sports journalist named Gulu Ezekiel. The book talks about the World's best Cricketer till date, Mr. Sachin Tendulkar. In the twelve years that he has been in the public eye, Sachin Tendulkar has been explosive on the cricket field and just as reticent off it. He was barely fifteen years old when he first wrote his name into the record books with a stupendous 664-run partnership with his childhood friend Vinod Kambli. Two year later, he struck his first century in first-class cricket. At eighteen, he became the second youngest man to make a hundred in international cricket, and after that there was no looking back. Records tumbled by the wayside as he captivated audiences first in his home city of Mumbai, then in the rest of India and all over the cricket-playing world. Today, Sachin is widely accepted as the world's finest batsman, with impeccable technique, an incredible array of strokes, and maturity far beyond his years. His teammates and friends swear by him, his fans worship him and there are few, if any, critics of his game or his temperament.

In this biography of the hero of Indian cricket, sports writer Gulu Ezekiel mines interviews, press reports and conversations over the last decade to create an accurate and sympathetic account of the man and his first passion: cricket. He tracks Sachin from his childhood when he first caught the bug of cricket, through his early performances in the Ranji Trophy and other domestic tournaments, and follows him on his meteoric rise to international stardom. While at school, he developed a reputation as a child prodigy. He had become a common conversation point in Mumbai circles, where there were suggestions already that he would become one of the greats. His season in 1988 was extraordinary, with Tendulkar scoring a century in every innings he played. The destructive pair of Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli reduced one bowler to tears and made the rest of the opposition unwilling to continue the game. Tendulkar scored 326* in this innings and scored over a thousand runs in the tournament. This was a record partnership in any form of cricket until 2006, when it was broken by two under-13 batsmen in a match held at Hyderabad in India. With unfailing attention to detail, he reconstructs the crucial matches and events that marked Sachin's career and unravels for us the magic of the charismatic cricketer whom Wisden once dubbed 'bigger than Jesus'.

"Sachin: The Story of the World's Greatest Batsman," the first, serious exhaustive biography of the Tendulkar career so far, brings back, like a warm autumn breeze does, the memory of the wunderkinds early exhilarating summers in international cricket.
Tendulkar's entry into world cricket was very much hyped up by former Indian stars and those who had seen him play. By scoring his first half-century in his second match and his first century aged 17, Tendulkar's consistent performances earned him a fan following across the globe, including amongstAustralian crowds, where Tendulkar has consistently scored centuries. One of the most popular sayings by his fans is "Cricket is my religion and Sachin is my God". Crick daily mentions in his profile that "... Tendulkar remains, by a distance, the most worshipped cricketer in the world." . During the Australiantour of India in 1998 Matthew Hayden said "I have seen God. He bats at no. 4 in India in Tests."

At home in Mumbai, Tendulkar's fan following is so great that he is unable to lead a normal life. Ian Chapell has said that he would be unable to cope with the lifestyle Tendulkar was forced to lead, having to "wear a wig and go out and watch a movie only at night". In an interview with Tim Sheridan, Tendulkar admitted that he sometimes went for quiet drives in the streets of Mumbai late at night when he would be able to enjoy some peace and silence. ‘He’s a god in India and people believe luck shines in his hand . It is beyond chaos—It is a frantic appeal by a nation to one man.’— Matthew Hayden on Sachin Tendulkar.

There are way too many things mentioned in the book about him but it is impossible to record them on 3 sheets of paper. This book was one of the best books I have ever read and will always remember this book whenever I see my favorite cricketer on TV. I still get shivers on my hands when Tendulkar walks on the cricket field with his bat. To me, Sachin Tendulkar is a God and people have written a 20,000 page bible about him.