Book Review-'Star Gazing'-'The Players in My life' by Ravi Shastri

[Harsh Thakor]

The book 'Stars Gazing' by Ravi Shastri is one of the most well written and expressive cricket books.I recommend it for every lover of the game.Most methodically or articulately he assesses the merits of the stars of various eras,with an original touch.He simply brings out the best attributes of all the great characters of the game.with a great punch.His descriptions of the artistic qualities or technical skill of the players are simply poetic.The writings give vibrations of some of the players exuding the touch of a painter or violinist.I can hardly envisage anyone giving as articulate justice to each cricketing star.Above all more than anything ,it proves that the game is all about aesthetics,and not just statistical records.I really appreciate the sheer life in his writings.In a most balanced manner he describes the artistic abilities,the technical prowess and temperament of players.

 

 

To me his best writings are on Viv Richards,Zaheer Abbas,Gundappa Vishwanath,Ian Botham,Kapil Dev,Malcolm Marshall,Wasim Akram,,Sunil Gavaskar,Imran Khan,Aravinda De Silva,,Martin Crowe ,Rahul Dravid,Gordon Greenidge and Graham Gooch. Shastri also does ample justice to the exploits of Lara,Tendulkar,Dravid ,Laxman,Steyn ,Inzamam etc,giving respect to their eras.

 

 

Shastri analytically portrays why he rates Viv Richards the best batsmen he has ever seen,Botham the best all-rounder,Marshal and Wasim the best fast bowlers ,,Amarnath the most determined batsman Miandad the most combative player,Aravinda the most temperamentally sound,Gavaskar the best of all opening batsman,,Kapil Dev the most talented cricketer,Imran the best leader,and Gower,Vishwnath and Zaheer Abbas as the ultimate stylists. He describes the silkiness of the strokes of Zaheer,the magical wristwork of Zaheer and the velvety touch of Gower.The water tight technique and phenomenal concentration of Gavaskar is narrated as well as the unmatched wizardry and destructive power of Viv Richards.He treats Imran Khan as a great military commander and Javed Miandad as the ultimate battler.A most a curate assessment is also made on the West Indian pace trio of Holding,Roberts  and Garner .Most vividly he describes the sheer all-round skill and craft of Malcolm Marshall as well as the wizardry of magician of Wasim Akram.Shastri also constructed a very accurate tribute to Dennis Lillee,justifying why he was the most complete of pace bowlers and on why Gary Sobers had no rival for the title of the greatest all-rounder.I simply adore the justice how he projects the sheer cricketing energy of Ian Botham, Imran Khan and Kapil Dev. ,the exuberance of Inzamam Ul Haq and the aestheticism of Martin Crowe.

 

 

I complement his rankings of Viv Richards,Ian Botham and Malcolm Marshall at the very top in their departments .

 

 

Arguably glaring omissions were Mohammad Azharuddin,Abdul Qadir ,Saed Anwar and Mark Waugh.I regret he did not reflect on the golden touch of Azhar,the flair of Mark Waugh and the sheer magical art of Qadir, and the subtle strokeplay of Saed Anwar.All were close to the most aesthetic cricketers of their eras.

 

The book is simply a must for any cricket fan' s library.

Edited October 28, 2021 by Harsh Thakor