If Cricket is Religion, Sachin is God


Book Description

With hundred centuries and over 34,000 runs in international cricket, Sachin Tendulkar, the highest run-getter in both Tests and ODIs, is the God of the religion called cricket. His exploits on the field have brought hope and joy to millions of fans. And yet, like God, he has his set of detractors always willing to remove him from the pedestal. In this revised and updated edition, the authors, who consider themselves fans and analysts in equal measure, follow the career of the cricketing demigod - his advent, his peak, his fall, his resurrection and, finally, his retirement. They also talk about India's sensational WC 2011 triumph and Tendulkar's decision to retire from international cricket. Armed with irrefutable statistical data, which they contextualize and analyse with rigour, the authors seek to end all debate on Tendulkar's status as the greatest cricketer of the modern era. They compare him with his peers in both forms of the game, and provide the viewpoint of experts, players and commentators, so that the reader can independently draw conclusions. And if you still don't believe that Sachin is God's gift to the world of cricket, well, God help you!




Sachin Tendulkar


Book Description

From his appearance on the firmament as a 16-year-old, Tendulkar has been a beacon for the new India. ‘When India won the Cricket World Cup in 2011, an abiding image from the celebrations was of the Indian cricket team carrying Sachin Tendulkar on their shoulders around Wankhede stadium. Tendulkar was not the captain of the team and the victory had been a team effort. But for the players, the victory was a gift to a man, arguably India’s greatest cricketer and inarguably one of the very greatest in the world.’ Sachin Tendulkar’s story may have been told many times, but it never stops delighting the cricket fan. In the 25 years that Tendulkar has played cricket, there is almost no existing batting record that he has not broken, or no impossible record that he has not set. He has even changed the way money and endorsements entered the game. At the same time, his incredible batting skills have kept him rooted in the fine traditions of cricket. Some say that one runs out of words when describing Sachin Tendulkar’s prowess and achievements. Others may more emphatically claim that there simply aren’t enough words to talk about this incredible cricketer. Ayaz Memon, one of India’s most prolific journalists, brings with him 33 years of experience in sports writing. He started his career covering sports and went on to edit newspapers like Mid-Day, Bombay Times and DNA as well as magazines like Sportsweek. Ayaz was also sports editor for the Times of India and the Independent at various stages. He is currently consulting editor with NewsX. Indranil Rai is a freelance journalist with an undying passion sports, especially cricket.




Master Laster


Book Description

Master Laster takes you beyond Sachin Tendulkar’s career aggregates and passionate assertions . . . There are almost as many books about Sachin Tendulkar as there are centuries by him. But, just as there is only one Tendulkar century that came in a winning run chase in the last innings of a Test match, rare are the books that look at his personal records through the prism of how much they mattered to the team. In fact there are none, because the easiest thing to do is to produce adulatory tomes for his doting fans. But there are an equal number of cricket fans out there who want to know something more than gushing accolades and who don't shy away from asking difficult questions. The book covers: 1. a quarter of a century of Indian cricket, bringing back to life many a game played during Tendulkar’s time. 2. it indulges fans in one of the enduring joys of cricket, discussing a point threadbare from multiple angles. 3. how many of his centuries made a difference to the team? 4. what is his track record under pressure? None of the books on Tendulkar has engaged fans in these debates. There is the odd question raised here or a critical comment made there in memoirs by former cricketers, but not a single book that sifts through the mountain of Tendulkar records to see what value can be attached to them from a team’s point of view. An exercise like that can be quite revealing, even startling, and certainly a lot of fun for cricket lovers. It sets the Tendulkar debate against specific data, taking it beyond career aggregates and passionate assertions. Master Laster covers the variables in the game, and its infinite possibilities. It also deals with why this game is so fascinates so many of us.




A Corner of a Foreign Field


Book Description

A Corner of a Foreign Field seamlessly interweaves biography with history, the lives of famous or forgotten cricketers with wider processes of social change. C. K. Nayudu and Sachin Tendulkar naturally figure in this book but so, too, in unexpected ways, do B. R. Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi, and M. A. Jinnah. The Indian careers of those great British cricketers, Lord Harris and D. R. Jardine, provide a window into the operations of Empire. The remarkable life of India’s first great slow bowler, Palwankar Baloo, provides an arresting new perspective on the struggle against caste discrimination. Later chapters explore the competition between Hindu and Muslim cricketers in colonial India and the destructive passions now provoked when India plays Pakistan. For this new edition, Ramachandra Guha has added a fresh introduction as well as a long new chapter, bringing the story up to date to cover, among other things, the advent of the Indian Premier League and the Indian team’s victory in the World Cup of 2011, these linked to social and economic transformations in contemporary India. A pioneering work, essential for anyone interested in either of those vast themes, cricket and India, A Corner of a Foreign Field is also a beautifully written meditation on the ramifications of sport in society at large.




Sachin Tendulkar: the Ton Machine


Book Description

Sachin Tendulkar needs no introduction. If you know cricket, then you know Sachin Tendulkar, who is treated even by Sir Don Bradman, as the best batsman in the history of Cricket. If you are in India where Cricket is a religion, Sachin is worshiped as God and every parent wishes their son to be a Sachin Tendulkar one fine day. He is known popularly as "The Master Blaster", "The Little Master" and now "The Ton Machine".Sachin has an incredible list of records to his credit, that no other cricketer in the history of this game ever has. The most appreciating part of this maestro is his humility amidst such an achievement. He is eagerly awaited by the billions of his fans to create the record of records in 2012, which is the "Ton of Tons" or his 100th International Century. He is the richest cricketer in the World and has endorsed a lot of top global brands, while at the same time is also involved in social work supporting few charities. He has more than 5 Million fans on Facebook and close to 2 million followers on Twitter.This book is a journey through Sachin Tendulkar's Childhood, his Cricketing Career, Statistics of his insatiable World Records, Facts & Figures of which many are unaware, what others say about the maestro & also a peep into his other side as well. You will find answers as to why is he treated as the "God of Cricket World". This book is designed & priced to be a Collector's item for Each & Every Fan of his and of this game of Cricket, that anyone would love to preserve and cherish. You just can't miss this!




Straight Drive


Book Description




Life in the Sunshine


Book Description

Sat, Sam, and Trib (a.k.a Triple sundae gang) are teenagers and they love cricket. They spend most of their time watching and playing the sport they love. They dream of making their living in the sport. When they are not playing the game, they put on their thinking cap and come up with alternate versions of important matches or provide parodic answers to questions that have plagued cricket fans over the years. However, fate intervenes in their idyllic life. On 18th April 1986, Javed Miandad hits Chetan Sharma for a six in Sharjah and leaves their cricket viewing life in tatters. The after-effects of this fateful event, continue to haunt them for many years. Their problems don’t end there. Sat fails to graduate from school level cricket to state-level cricket. He is heartbroken by the loss of his dreams and faces a mini identity crisis. How do the boys solve their problems? Will the boys ever recover from that Javed Miandad incident? Will Sat get his mojo back? Come, join the heartwarming ride and find out the answers, as Sat takes you through his nostalgic memories of the sport and narrates his coming of age story, which is deeply influenced by the sport!




The Business Of Cricket


Book Description

The Business of Cricket: The Story of Sports Marketing in India. HOW SPORTS MARKETING HAS BOWLED US OVER Sports marketing is all-pervasive today - no matter where you look, there is no escaping a Dhoni, a Tendulkar or a Sehwag. It wasn't always like this. There was a time when sportspersons got fame from sport, but not the money commensurate with that fame. Then Sunil Gavaskar, India's first batsman-entrepreneur, came along, and in his wake followed Kapil Dev and Sachin Tendulkar. Helped by television and competing multinational brands vying to expand their market in a liberalizing India, sports marketing, which in India is synonymous with cricket, exploded. The culmination of this process was the Indian Premier League (IPL), a brilliant marketing concept that was a win-win for players, sponsors, media and viewers alike. This book, written by two sports enthusiasts who are also ace sports marketers with a combined international experience of forty years in marketing, takes us on an engaging and informative journey through the highs and lows of sports marketing in India. Along the way, the authors explain what constitutes good sports marketing, how the market can be expanded, what the prospects are for sports other than cricket, and why the sports fan needs to be better treated. An incisive, heartfelt book that will appeal to sports fans, marketers, advertisers as well as administrators.




Playing It My Way


Book Description

'I don't think anyone, apart from Don Bradman, is in the same class as Sachin Tendulkar.' -Shane Warne This is cricket icon, Sachin Tendulkar's life story in his own words - his journey from a small boy with dreams to becoming a cricket god. His amazing story has now been turned into a major film, A Billion Dreams, in which he stars. The greatest run-scorer in the history of cricket, Sachin Tendulkar retired in 2013 after an astonishing 24 years at the top. The most celebrated Indian cricketer of all time, he received the Bharat Ratna Award - India's highest civilian honour - on the day of his retirement. Now Sachin Tendulkar tells his own remarkable story - from his first Test cap at the age of 16 to his 100th international century and the emotional final farewell that brought his country to a standstill. When a boisterous Mumbai youngster's excess energies were channelled into cricket, the result was record-breaking schoolboy batting exploits that launched the career of a cricketing phenomenon. Before long Sachin Tendulkar was the cornerstone of India's batting line-up, his every move watched by a cricket-mad nation's devoted followers. Never has a cricketer been burdened with so many expectations; never has a cricketer performed at such a high level for so long and with such style - scoring more runs and making more centuries than any other player, in both Tests and one-day games. And perhaps only one cricketer could have brought together a shocked nation by defiantly scoring a Test century shortly after terrorist attacks rocked Mumbai. His many achievements with India include winning the World Cup and topping the world Test rankings. Yet he has also known his fair share of frustration and failure - from injuries and early World Cup exits to stinging criticism from the press, especially during his unhappy tenure as captain. Despite his celebrity status, Sachin Tendulkar has always remained a very private man, devoted to his family and his country. Now, for the first time, he provides a fascinating insight into his personal life and gives a frank and revealing account of a sporting life like no other.




The Spiritual Path


Book Description

The author of international bestseller, Shantaram, takes us on a gripping personal journey of wonder and insight into science, belief, faith and devotion. Drawing on common-sense logic, sacred traditions, inspirations from the natural world and the iconoclastic instruction of his spiritual teacher, Roberts describes the step by step path he followed in search of spiritual connection, one that anyone, of any belief or none, can apply in their own lives. This gripping personal account of the Leap of Faith is a compellingly fresh, new addition to such enduring, spiritually inspiring works as Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, The Road Less Travelled and The Celestine Prophecy. From the Author: "The Spiritual Path is for anyone searching for meaning and connection, for more answers than questions, and for practical help in resetting the spiritual compass." Gregory David Roberts