In a bizarre marketing strategy, a luxury book publisher is bringing out a special edition biography of Tendulkar with pages made from his blood.The "blood edition", which also includes unpublished family pictures and Tendulkar's thoughts about his career, weighs 37kg and contains 852 pages all edged in gold leaf, the Guardian reports.
Due to be released next February, The Tendulkar Opus has a price tag of £49,000. Only 10 copies will ever be made and all have been pre-ordered.
"The signature page will be mixed with Sachin's blood – mixed into the paper pulp so it's a red resin. It is what it is – you will have Sachin's blood on the page," publisher Kraken Media's chief executive Karl Fowler told the paper.
"It's not everyone's cup of tea, it's not to everyone's taste and some may think it's a bit weird. But the key thing here is that Sachin Tendulkar to millions of people is a religious icon. And we thought how, in a publishing form, can you get as close to your god as possible?" The book also showcases the batsman's DNA profile, which was obtained from a swab of his DNA.
All proceeds from the sale of the books will go to Tendulkar's charitable foundation to help build a school in Mumbai.
One thousands cheaper copies will be made, selling for about £2,000 each.
