Sports journalist and commentator V. Krishnaswamy, chronicles Sachin's 100 hundreds. One after another, he puts them in perspective with the detail of the score, the situation in the game, a detailed write up of the century, and some important snippets and facts. There is also some other rather unnecessary stuff like what V. Anand and Leander Paes were doing at that time and what transpired in the world in that year which acts as a distraction and really serves no purpose.
I found some stuff which interested me in the very beginning. Sachin Tendulkar's coach Ramakant Achrekar says that Sachin's greatest attribute has been to listen, imbibe and work on his game. He just needed to be told once and he'd work on that aspect and correct himself. This is the hallmark of a true champion, a learner, a student who wanted to excel.
Rahul Dravid picks two centuries in his foreword, a double century against Australia in 2004 and the 136 against Pakistan in Chennai when India lost by 17 runs. Those, with his sensational desert storm hundreds against Australia, and the second innings hundred that ensured a fourth inning win for India against England in Chennai in 2008, chasing 387 to win are right up there for me. The 175 against Australia comes to mind but certainly the 97 against Pakistan in the World Cup in South Africa ranks equally high. One other inning I really liked was a quick fire 37 or so that he got against Australia in the Champions Trophy match that India won (probably the one where Yuvraj made a fine debut) and the manner in which he upset the Aussie bowlers including the dangerous Mcgrath.
I was looking for some quality of the champion here while reading the book and I guess I got it from Ramakant Achrekar's words. He never really had to be told anything twice. There are several quotes from many legends of the game including the greatest and if one takes away the superlatives etc Sachin is best remembered for his compact game, technical soundness, preparation, a constant willingness to learn and improve, putting game, team and country before himself, a humbleness and grace that not many have in the face of such adulation and his being grounded.
The author V. Krishnaswamy is an experienced sports journalist with 30 years of experience. He has covered more than 100 golf events, written two books on golf and four sports quiz books. As a read this book gets boring after a while. Its difficult to read about one hundred after another unless you are a die-hard Sachin fan or some kind of a numbers junkie researching for some information on Sachin's body of work represented by his centuries. But the book's objective was to chronicle the same and in that context its probably the best job that could have done. However it could have been far better without the jarring interruptions of the achievements and parallel journey V. Anand and Leander Paes. It was like listening to a tribute to a maestro in a form of music with periodic comparisons from completely different forms of music - discordant and out of frequency. Thanks Parth for lending it to me.
Harper Collins, 261 p
I found some stuff which interested me in the very beginning. Sachin Tendulkar's coach Ramakant Achrekar says that Sachin's greatest attribute has been to listen, imbibe and work on his game. He just needed to be told once and he'd work on that aspect and correct himself. This is the hallmark of a true champion, a learner, a student who wanted to excel.
Rahul Dravid picks two centuries in his foreword, a double century against Australia in 2004 and the 136 against Pakistan in Chennai when India lost by 17 runs. Those, with his sensational desert storm hundreds against Australia, and the second innings hundred that ensured a fourth inning win for India against England in Chennai in 2008, chasing 387 to win are right up there for me. The 175 against Australia comes to mind but certainly the 97 against Pakistan in the World Cup in South Africa ranks equally high. One other inning I really liked was a quick fire 37 or so that he got against Australia in the Champions Trophy match that India won (probably the one where Yuvraj made a fine debut) and the manner in which he upset the Aussie bowlers including the dangerous Mcgrath.
I was looking for some quality of the champion here while reading the book and I guess I got it from Ramakant Achrekar's words. He never really had to be told anything twice. There are several quotes from many legends of the game including the greatest and if one takes away the superlatives etc Sachin is best remembered for his compact game, technical soundness, preparation, a constant willingness to learn and improve, putting game, team and country before himself, a humbleness and grace that not many have in the face of such adulation and his being grounded.
The author V. Krishnaswamy is an experienced sports journalist with 30 years of experience. He has covered more than 100 golf events, written two books on golf and four sports quiz books. As a read this book gets boring after a while. Its difficult to read about one hundred after another unless you are a die-hard Sachin fan or some kind of a numbers junkie researching for some information on Sachin's body of work represented by his centuries. But the book's objective was to chronicle the same and in that context its probably the best job that could have done. However it could have been far better without the jarring interruptions of the achievements and parallel journey V. Anand and Leander Paes. It was like listening to a tribute to a maestro in a form of music with periodic comparisons from completely different forms of music - discordant and out of frequency. Thanks Parth for lending it to me.
Harper Collins, 261 p
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