Tendulkar autobiography

[Texan]

Chickened out on what? What is Tendulkar going to gain from targeting Chappell?

Easy target. Some masala always helps sell books. For example the meeting between Sachin and Chappell at his home was contested by Chappell that he never even met him during the timeframe Sachin has mentioned. Also, Sachin's claim that Chappell said "we can control Indian cricket" sounds very dubious. For one, we now know that Dravid and Chappell had a good working relationship, which means there was absolutely no need for Chappell to find another captain that suited him. Also, Chappell going out and seeking help from somebody who considered him as a "ringmaster" makes that claim sound blatantly false and foolish. Now, don't use the argument that Sachin does not "need to create masala" to sell his book and that he does not need money. Of course, he is super rich and does not as such need money. But so also is Ambani, Mittal et al. Yet, they aspire to earn more money. Sachin is no different. We have also seen how he tried to use his influence to dodge tax on his Ferrari even though he is perfectly capable of paying the tax. And anybody that has ever written a book has written one so that it can sell. Nobody wants to write a book that gathers dust in warehouses. So, to me, it appears to be a classic case of creating masala that can help book sales, while conveniently skipping important issues because he still wants to keep good relations with folks in India. How else can you explain the lack of any details on the fixing gate? He was right in the middle when this happened. He was a senior cricketer and surely, he would have more details than what he has chosen to publish. Read this Cricinfo article that delves into this: http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/story/797003.html

[Precambrian]

That he's lied before is proof

When?

[Precambrian]

Easy target. Some masala always helps sell books. For example the meeting between Sachin and Chappell at his home was contested by Chappell that he never even met him during the timeframe Sachin has mentioned. Also, Sachin's claim that Chappell said "we can control Indian cricket" sounds very dubious. For one, we now know that Dravid and Chappell had a good working relationship, which means there was absolutely no need for Chappell to find another captain that suited him. Also, Chappell going out and seeking help from somebody who considered him as a "ringmaster" makes that claim sound blatantly false and foolish. Now, don't use the argument that Sachin does not "need to create masala" to sell his book and that he does not need money. Of course, he is super rich and does not as such need money. But so also is Ambani, Mittal et al. Yet, they aspire to earn more money. Sachin is no different. We have also seen how he tried to use his influence to dodge tax on his Ferrari even though he is perfectly capable of paying the tax. And anybody that has ever written a book has written one so that it can sell. Nobody wants to write a book that gathers dust in warehouses. So, to me, it appears to be a classic case of creating masala that can help book sales, while conveniently skipping important issues because he still wants to keep good relations with folks in India. How else can you explain the lack of any details on the fixing gate? He was right in the middle when this happened. He was a senior cricketer and surely, he would have more details than what he has chosen to publish. Read this Cricinfo article that delves into this: http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/story/797003.html

A lie. fact : He got a car as a gift from a motor company. There was customs duty levied on it by the Indian govt which he refused to pay, and said he'll not take delivery of it. Ferrari, rightly, paid the duty. End of. As if Tendulkar needed reference on Chappell to sell his book. Come on man. Has Dravid explicitly stated anywhere that he and Greg had a great working relationship. Further Tendulkar's claims have been backed by other sseniors including Laxman, Ganguly, Bhajji, Zak etc. Can understand Ganguly or Bhajji supporting, but someone like VVS? Dravid being the miss two goody shoes he is, won't say in all probability in favor or against this. See one can claim that Dravid attending Sachin's book ceremony is an implicit approval of his statements, had they been wrong ab initio, wouldn't he take exception with that? He has already explained why he has not touched upon fixing. He doesnt think he has got enough facts to give his opinion on it. What do you expect him to say, "Look - this match, I think Azhar deliberately underperformed, or Jadeja I think did not run fast enough between the wickets..." - What is this? Kitchen gossip? I don't think a person of his stature would need to resort to "kitchen gossip" to sell his books. And had he done that, people like you would just say "Oh now he has resorted to cheap gossips about players to sell his book. See Azhar, Jadeja etc are "soft targets" na, since they've already been punished for matchfixing?".

[Precambrian]

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/is-sachin-tendulkar-rewriting-cricket-history-20141107-11hxwl.html

Yep don't trust GC. But trust his diary. :hysterical: And Tendulkar mentions "months before WC started". The meeting happened roughly 11 months before the WC.

Similarly, on Monkeygate, Ricky Ponting's response to Tendulkar is bland: "I've got nothing to add to it because he is giving his side of events, [and] I've given my side of events in the past". Over that incident as well, one side was telling the truth and the other was not, but the search for truth was rapidly buried by politics.

:cantstop: Self goal. The author shows his true colors.

[Precambrian]

Chappal didnt want yuvraj' date=' really. Yuvraj was backed a lot by him. They tried everything to keep him in test team.[/quote'] :WTF: Your second and third statements directly contradicts your first.

[Precambrian]

thats the problem. theres absolutely nothing about his personal life even and really thats what makes a sportsman more interesting and humanizes him. no mention of his family life or childhood friends like kambli the book is filled with cricket and the only moments that can make news are his his whining about cricket.

Did you read the whole book?

[Texan]

A lie. fact : He got a car as a gift from a motor company. There was customs duty levied on it by the Indian govt which he refused to pay' date=' and said he'll not take delivery of it. Ferrari, rightly, paid the duty. End of. [/size']

Completely untrue. Import duty on the Ferrari was waived by the government of that day. In fact, Sachin even took delivery of the Ferrari after the duty was waived. It required the Delhi High Court to intervene and summon the government and Mr Tendulkar. Fiat finally settled the matter to save their brand ambassador. Read up here: http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2003/aug/13ten.htm

As if Tendulkar needed reference on Chappell to sell his book. Come on man. Has Dravid explicitly stated anywhere that he and Greg had a great working relationship. Further Tendulkar's claims have been backed by other sseniors including Laxman, Ganguly, Bhajji, Zak etc. Can understand Ganguly or Bhajji supporting, but someone like VVS? Dravid being the miss two goody shoes he is, won't say in all probability in favor or against this. See one can claim that Dravid attending Sachin's book ceremony is an implicit approval of his statements, had they been wrong ab initio, wouldn't he take exception with that?

Dravid has categorically stated that he had no problems with Chappell. So explain to me why Chappell would want a person like Tendulkar who viewed him unfavorably v/s a person like Dravid as captain in order to "control Indian cricket for years"?? Sounds like a mystery to me.

He has already explained why he has not touched upon fixing. He doesnt think he has got enough facts to give his opinion on it. What do you expect him to say, "Look - this match, I think Azhar deliberately underperformed, or Jadeja I think did not run fast enough between the wickets..." - What is this? Kitchen gossip? I don't think a person of his stature would need to resort to "kitchen gossip" to sell his books. And had he done that, people like you would just say "Oh now he has resorted to cheap gossips about players to sell his book. See Azhar, Jadeja etc are "soft targets" na, since they've already been punished for matchfixing?".

Ohhh. Are you saying that he was captain of a side which had 2 big match-fixers and he had no idea about what is going on???? Is he really that naive or dumb? Even if I accept that he did not perhaps have full knowledge, has he published his views on those match-fixers?? What went on in the dressing room when these folks were fixing matches??? Has he spoken to those fixers after that scandal broke out?

[Precambrian]

At lunch we had reached 748 –2' date=' of which I had contributed 326. As soon as we left the field I was informed by the assistant coach that I was in serious trouble. When I asked why, he told me that Achrekar Sir had wanted us to declare in the morning and I had disobeyed him by carrying on. Sir was of the opinion that we had more than enough runs to declare, and if we weren’t able to bowl the opposition out for less we did not deserve to be in the final. I decided to declare right away to save myself from Sir’s ire that evening. Vinod asked me not to, however, because he was not out on 349. He pleaded with me to give him one more ball so that he’d reach 350. I said that it wasn’t my call and we needed Sir’s permission to continue. So I rang Sir from a public phone next to the ground and the first question he asked was how many wickets we had managed to take before lunch. That was Sir’s style. He was well aware that we hadn’t declared and hadn’t taken any wickets, but he wouldn’t say so. I informed him that we had batted till lunch and that I was about to declare . With Vinod pleading beside me, I quickly mentioned to Sir that Vinod wanted to speak to him and handed over the phone. But Vinod was scared of Sir and ended up not saying a word about batting on for another over. I duly declared the innings.[/quote'] :winky: Fate caught up with him 15 years after that in Multan I guess.

[Precambrian]

Completely untrue. Import duty on the Ferrari was waived by the government of that day. In fact, Sachin even took delivery of the Ferrari after the duty was waived. It required the Delhi High Court to intervene and summon the government and Mr Tendulkar. Fiat finally settled the matter to save their brand ambassador. Read up here: http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2003/aug/13ten.htm

Still does not put Tendulkar in the dock, does it? Fact remains that he didn't. Government didn't ask him to. And yet the due tax amount was paid.

Dravid has categorically stated that he had no problems with Chappell. So explain to me why Chappell would want a person like Tendulkar who viewed him unfavorably v/s a person like Dravid as captain in order to "control Indian cricket for years"?? Sounds like a mystery to me.

Can you pls point me to the link where he said that he had no problems whatsoever with Chappell? Further, by all accounts Chappell proposed this to Tendulkar when Dravid was just appointed the captain.

Ohhh. Are you saying that he was captain of a side which had 2 big match-fixers and he had no idea about what is going on???? Is he really that naive or dumb? Even if I accept that he did not perhaps have full knowledge, has he published his views on those match-fixers?? What went on in the dressing room when these folks were fixing matches??? Has he spoken to those fixers after that scandal broke out?

This is where the whole conversation becomes really really dumb and frustrating. Match fixers don't tell their captain - "Cap, am gonna fix this match" and do that. FFS. Come on, don't please act this dumb. He probably got to know about this only later. He has clearly repeatedly said he will not comment on anything that he has not got full facts about. Why are you so insistent that he does so and indulge in petty gossiping? It is his autobiography and not character assessment of players who played with him. Condensing 25 years of cricket into 400 pages itself is a big thing and the last thing would be to waste precious pages of it on petty gossiping about things he doesn't know. My advice to you - Read the book.

[The Outsider]

The book is boring as feck! A complete waste of a few hours. Offers very little insight into the kind of things that interest me in a cricketer's autobiography - the background of key cricketing challenges they were a part of. This book is partly mohalla gossip and partly a running through of scorecards which can be looked up on cricinfo. Contrast this work with Steve Waugh's autobiography to see what I am saying. Highly avoidable.

[rkt.india]

:WTF: Your second and third statements directly contradicts your first.

First line was exclamation.

[Crookbond]

Proof?

There is no reason to believe what everyone says at face value even if it is Tendulkar or Dravid. There's no proof required, just a bit of logic and removal of tinted glasses to understand that part.

[Crookbond]

Yuvraj was one of the Indian players who liked Chappell way of functioning. Raina was another one.

[Crookbond]

The book is boring as feck! A complete waste of a few hours. Offers very little insight into the kind of things that interest me in a cricketer's autobiography - the background of key cricketing challenges they were a part of. This book is partly mohalla gossip and partly a running through of scorecards which can be looked up on cricinfo. Contrast this work with Steve Waugh's autobiography to see what I am saying. Highly avoidable.

You should check out Sunil Gavankar's interview posted earlier in this thread. He was asked if he would read the autobiography and after reading your post it kind of makes sense. Gavaskar said, "I used to read a lot during my playing days about past cricketers to get an insight into their cricketing mind. After retirement, I have reduced my reading appetite. I may or may not read the book - who knows.".

[Precambrian]

There is no reason to believe what everyone says at face value even if it is Tendulkar or Dravid. There's no proof required' date=' just a bit of logic and removal of tinted glasses to understand that part.[/quote'] Not everyone has had a 25 yr old career at the top and retired with 100 hundreds in international cricket. Not everyone had a billion (okay millions) swear by his name for over two decades at full pitch. We aren't talking about your average joe mister.

[Precambrian]

I read the book. The first autobiography i have read of a cricketer. Yes 80% of it is cricket and cricket only. But we are talking about a person who spent 70-80% of his life (deducting early childhood) playing the game at the highest level. So it is bound to be about cricket and cricket alone. I am not too worried about the contents but I am highly disappointed by the editing. Boria, who apparently did the writing has done a very shoddy work and honestly I am sort of inclined to agree with Outsider that atleast in some portions it reduces to being a collection of Wisden match reports. Positives are that we get know more about his personal life (especially how he missed seeing his children growing up - that part, being a father-to-be really tugged at my heart), and the emotional turmoils at the darkest period in his career, plagued by injuries. However there is a sense of deja vu when you already know many of the anecdotes he supplies in the book, especially post 2000. I would've loved him to expand a bit more on 1990-2000 period. There is hardly any commentary about his relationship with Azhar under whom he probably spent the maximum time as a player (by years). I think the deliberate silence is sort of telling. Anyways there is a huge feel that this book was rushed to meet the deadlines (there is explicit mention of this in the opening credits). But then again, the concluding parts really put a lump in my throat. The euphoria at winning the world cup and then the last test match alone was worth my investment in the book. Would rate it 3/5.

[Precambrian]

Yuvraj was one of the Indian players who liked Chappell way of functioning. Raina was another one.

I don't recollect Yuvraj saying anything on that topic. Maybe I have missed it. Raina I'd agree. He is one youngster (probably the only good thing) that Chappell brought up in the team. But then again, that's hardly anything.

[Crookbond]

Not everyone has had a 25 yr old career at the top and retired with 100 hundreds in international cricket. Not everyone had a billion (okay millions) swear by his name for over two decades at full pitch. We aren't talking about your average joe mister.

Everything well taken. None of it makes every written line by him the truth.

[Crookbond]

I don't recollect Yuvraj saying anything on that topic. Maybe I have missed it. Raina I'd agree. He is one youngster (probably the only good thing) that Chappell brought up in the team. But then again, that's hardly anything.

Yuvraj (even during Chappell's tenure) had commented how he liked the regime etc. Raina too has given kind words. Even MS Dhoni would be ambivalent on Chappell - the worst.

[Precambrian]

Everything well taken. None of it makes every written line by him the truth.

But all other things being equal, those are very likely to be truth than false. Otherwise courts wouldn't function.