Sachin: Genius Unplugged

A new biography on India's iconic cricketer Sachin Tendulkar was launched in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

Entitled 'Sachin: Genius unplugged', the book is edited by Suresh Menon, columnist and author, who has known Tendulkar since he reported the player’s debut match in Pakistan.

The essays in the book are by writers who have been reporting and observing Tendulkar’s game, analysing his batting, placing him in context, criticising him over the years. It is a first draft of biography, with the advantage that it is not limited to a single point of view.

This extraordinary work is brought to the avid cricket lover in each of us by NMC and UAE Exchange, and is a tribute to one of the greatest cricketers the world has ever seen.

Tendulkar has made poets of prose writers even if occasionally his strokeplay has demonstrated the futility of conveying in words the brilliance of his batsmanship.

Sachin: Genius Unplugged, brings together writers and contemporaries whose perspectives on the player are unique. Their insights are strained through experience.

Like writers and artists, sportsmen are subject to revisionism, with fresh appraisals adding to the known portrait. A good place to start is the contemporary report.

Every writer has a personal story as well as a measured, professional one, and part of the joy of the book is to read the admission of veteran writers like Mike Coward on how the player figures in his bank accounts, for example.

Harsha Bhogle’s first interview with Sachin, Osman Samiuddin’s discussion with his mathematician father, Barney Ronay’s air-cricket, Peter Roebuck’s comparisons with Viv Richards, Mike Marqusee’s deeply felt personal essay, Gideon Haigh’s take on the commercial value of Tendulkar’s bodily fluids, and personal insights by Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Bishan Bedi, throw light on Tendulkar, on the writers, and on the art of sportswriting itself.

The foreword on the most successful batsman of all time is by the most successful bowler of all times, Muttiah Muralitharan.

It is a treat both for those who read cover-to-cover at one go and readers who love to dip in now and then, savouring the individual essays at leisure.

Unplugging the genius called Sachin

So much has been written about Sachin Tendulkar the cricketer and Sachin Tendulkar the human being that it’s almost impossible to come up with a novel venture.

Distinguished sportswriter Suresh Menon has found a way out, putting together a series of essays on the Little Master -- the editor himself has penned one of them -- by distinguished sportswriters and two of his former skippers.

‘Sachin -- Genius Unplugged’, a work of art and passion, was launched in the City on Wednesday afternoon, Rahul Dravid releasing the first copy and handing it over to Anil Kumble. It was in the fitness of things that the two Karnataka gentlemen, who have both played under and led Tendulkar, should be so initimately involved, not only because both have eulogised the Mumbaikar in print but also because each of them has played more than 100 Tests alongside Tendulkar.

“I haven’t had the time to read this book fully, but the wide range of writers who have contributed is a reflection of the respect Suresh has among his writing colleagues,” Dravid remarked.

“It is not easy to write about Sachin, about whom so much is already written. I am sure this book will inspire a lot of youngsters, especially young cricketers.”

Including Menon and the two former Indian skippers, 16 writers have given expression to their impressions of the 37-year-old, among them Bishan Singh Bedi, Sanjay Manjrekar, Peter Roebuck and Mike Marqusee of ‘War Minus The Shooting’ fame, with the foreword coming from Muttiah Muralitharan.

“I was fortunate to be at Old Trafford when Sachin scored his first Test century,” Kumble said of his great mate, with whom he has a wonderful relationship based on mutual respect and admiration. “Superstition is rife in cricket. I was on the dressing room balcony and Kiran More told me, `Sachin is batting well, so you better keep standing’. I stood all the while, getting a small break for tea, and I stood all along till he scored his century and the match was saved!

“I was a bit envious of Sachin -- he would just roll his arm over and bowl a perfect leg-break or a googly while I was struggling to turn the ball! It was an honour to play alongside Sachin for more than 100 Tests. For 21 years, he has played with the same passion and intensity because he still enjoys the game. That’s a good lesson for youngsters.”

Priced at Rs 599, the book will hit retail stores on February 14.