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What are reviews of Sachin Tendulkar's autobiography, 'Playing It My Way'?

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13 ANSWERS

Aviral Shrivastava, just another guy

Answered Nov 18, 2014

Originally Answered: What is your review of Playing It My Way?

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 is full 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. If Sachin supports the actions of BCCI, I am disappointed with him.

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, no sense of 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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Chandrasekar Venkatrama, Aspiring Cricket Analyst, Cricket and a Cinema buff

Answered Apr 12, 2017

It's literally like a Bible or a Quran to me if we consider cricket as a religion. I'm not exaggerating things here just because it's Sachin, but his autobiography is truly inspirational in many ways. The beauty of reading any autobiography is that we get to know about the same incident/match, but from a different perspective. For example, we see a match from 1000s of Kms away and we only witness the happenings from when the players enter the field. These autobiographies on the other hand provide a chance for the fans to know certain details or anecdotes that happened before the match or anything like that. Similarly, all we know is that Sachin comes out to bat, scores a century and wins a game for India. But only after reading this book did i get to know of the various injuries Sachin had battled before those knocks and how many pain killers he had taken before coming out. If that wasn't enough, he would still stay at the crease amidst that pain and take India home. Goosebumps moment right?

Another thing that i would like to mention is the strategical thinking Sachin had. The way he countered each bowler, starting from the Cairns' reverse swing episode, Pedro Collins's weird action or decoding Muralitharan's variations, Sachin had an answer to everyone and i think that's why he's called a genius.

The best part of the book was his stories of humility, affection towards even the most inconsequential people in his life. Whether it is the ball boy he had a chat with or the restaurant server who spoke to him 2 decades back, he recounts everything without a shade of hesitation. The fact that he chose to thank those people just speaks volumes about his humble nature in life.

These are just bits and pieces of what's given in the book. After reading this book, you'll finally realise why Sachin went on to eventually become the Sachin he is now. A true must read for any Indian in general.

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Annanya Johari, Books are good

Answered Feb 7, 2015

The day I realized Sachin was going to write a book, I knew that was what I had to read next. Having been a Cricket-is-my-religion-Tendulkar-my-Godkind of a person since my childhood, I knew I knew a lot about him already. But still, reading a book by the man himself, that had to quite an experience. Or so, I thought.

This is not a book for the passionate Sachin fan. For he could have written 90% of the book himself. I know I could've. All the Tendulkar stories are there. Matches in Shivaji Park and Azad Maidan, Achrekar Sir, Kambli partnership, the Duleep, Ranji and Irani centuries, Waqar Bouncer, opening in ODIs, Perth, Chennai, Sharjah, Centurion, Sydney, Multan, Hyderabad, Gwalior, World Cups, Anjali, losing his father, injuries, umpiring howlers, love of food, crying his heart out at every major loss.

And very little else. I wanted to read some juicy bits and inside stories, something that I have not read countless times in the newspapers and magazines. I wanted read some unknown tidbits about the match-fixing fiasco, given that he was one of the most senior players in the side that time. All we get is that he found it "repulsive and disgusting". There's a story about how Greg Chappell came over to his home, asking him to become the captain so that they "could rule Indian cricket for decades". That, turns out, was the most interesting part of the book. And it was out before the book released.

However, on second thoughts, the conscientious cricket fan would have realised that the autobiography could not be expected to shake the foundations of world cricket. Sachin, who was never known for being articulate and forthcoming, choosing to be reticent during his career both on and off the pitch, preferring to duck controversy rather than confront it, could not be expected to suddenly throw caution to the winds. Also, Sachin's is a life that's been scrutinised and catalogued scores of times, making it difficult to actually come up with fresh anecdotes and stories. And this is where the co-writer's role assumes all the more importance. His subject couldn't have been more interesting, to put it mildly. Forget living legends, Sachin was a playing legend for two thirds of his career. His stories had already passed into myth and legend while he was still learning his craft. To extract as much as possible, slowly and steadily, drip by drip, questioning, cajoling, coaxing. Most certainly not sitting across him and asking him to jot down whatever he remembers about the major series and tournaments, which is what the book feels like.

This could have been a peep-hole into the minds of one of the deepest thinkers of the game, someone who loved and worshipped at the game's altar as much as he conquered all that he surveyed. Or a masterclass on run-making and batting techniques and adjustments. Or how he dealt with being public property for all these years. Or a recollection of the dressing room and Team India over three decades of triumphs, losses, fun and heartbreak. What it turns out is a series of match reports and retelling of stale anecdotes.

That the chapter titled "Anjali" becomes the best chapter speaks a lot about the quality of the book. Although Indians always love to read love stories, and Sachin's love story is actually an interesting one, but if a chapter on romance is the best part of a megastar sportsperson's autobiography, you know it cannot be held in high regard.

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