Slamming it my way! In autobiography, Sachin finds strongest weapon ever -- the pen
Mumbai: What has happened to Sachin Tendulkar? The Master Blaster, who has always let his bat shut up critics or answer questions his tongue has been reluctant to, has found a stronger weapon post-retirement -- the pen.
Read: Master blaster speaks his heart out, says he has lived his dream
In his recently-launched autobiography 'Playing it My Way’, Tendulkar has fleshed out critical issues that he witnessed in his 24-year-old International career.
We bring you excerpts:
Slams Chappells:
The below para highlight Sachin Tendulkar’s bitterness towards Greg Chappell and his ringmaster style of coaching the team. The little master not only felt uncomfortable as Chappell continued to dominate the team but Tendulkar also felt that Indian cricket was going nowhere under the Australian.
Read: Sachin Tendulkar criticises 'ringmaster' Chappell
Chappells’s way of functioning and his offer to Tendulkar to lead the Indian side before 2007 World Cup were few of the many points of discontent between their strained relationship.
Read: Greg Chappell crossed his limits, says VVS Laxman
However, Greg is not the only Chappell that rubbed Tendulkar wrong way. Ian Chappell’s ‘changing sides too quickly’ attitude did not impress the Indian legend at all. Following a disappointing 2007 World Cup, Ian Chappell had remarked that Tendulkar needs to look in the mirror in order to analyse his future. While Tendulkar went on to play for six more years and set quite a few records. H did not like what Ian Chappell had said then and left no stone unturned in letting Chappell know what he felt of his remark.
Tendulkar in his book says, “I don’t think much about him. I showed him the size of the mirror in VB Series in 2008, so I don’t need to go out and prove to anyone. He has got nothing to do with Indian cricket and it is just another opinion.” Tendulkar added, “Sometimes I feel people are given too much importance. The guy asking me to stand in front of the mirror has probably failed more times so it is an opinion and I didn’t want to respond to that and fortunately by God’s grace my bat did that.”
Monkeygate:
It is very well documented how Sachin Tendulkar supported Harbhajan Singh following the ‘monkeygate’ saga that took place in Sydney in 2007 during India Australia Test series. At the end of day three in that Test, it was announced that Harbhajan was banned for three games after the judge thought he racially abused Andrew Symonds by calling him ‘monkey’.
Tendulkar continues to be in Bhajji’s corner even now. Tendulkar writes, “ Anil Kumble (India’s Test captain then) and I took the lead and it was decided that we would boycott the tour if Bhajji’s ban was upheld. It was time for stern words and strong action.”
Read: Harbhajan supports Sachin's claims
Tendulkar adds that while Harbhajan is an impulsive and passionate individual, the continuous provoking by Symonds and few of the Australian players escalated the matter. Concluding the matter, he suggests, match referee for the Sydney Test, Mike Proctor could have done a better job in not letting matter slip out of hands.
Kapil Dev as coach and the match-fixing debate:
Tendulkar writes that he expected Kapil Dev to play a crucial role in team formation and strategy making but the then Indian coach preferred leaving running of the team to the captain.
Sachin though has not spoken about what really transpired during India’s Test vs New Zealand in Ahmedabad when he was the Indian captain and Kapil was India's coach. The match was once under the scanner with allegations that some players tried to tamper the outcome of the game.
Discussing match fixing controversy that enveloped the game, Sachin writes, "I think whatever things I knew 100 per cent I have revealed because I back up those things. But the things I am not aware of fully, it would be unwise to comment on those.
"I should have some evidence, I should know something in detail to talk about it because then it makes sense and it will be appreciated by people. But if I just start talking then it will not have any value."
The Multan declaration saga:
At the book launch of ‘Playing it My Way’, Rahul Dravid was at his witty best discussing Multan declaration. The Indian stalwart said, "On being asked on Multan declaration I once mentioned that if I get a rupee on this question, I would become a millionaire.”
Highlighting the Multan Test declaration, the man himself writes, "The following morning, Rahul finally came to me and said he heard I was upset and wanted to have a chat. I informed him that I was indeed upset and there was no way I would pretend otherwise. I asked him what the thinking was behind declaring at the time he did. It wasn't as if we were pressing for a win, and one over wouldn't have made much difference. We had agreed to a plan at tea and I was doing exactly as I had been told.”
Read: Dravid knew it all
Rahul said that the call was taken with the interests of the team in mind. It was important to demonstrate to the Pakistanis that we meant business and were keen to win. I wasn't convinced. First, I said to him that I was batting for the team as well. Yes, I had scored 194, but the 194 were meant to help the team and it was my individual contribution to the team's cause. So to say that the decision was taken in the best interests of the team wasn't altogether correct. “
But Tendulkar clarifies the perceived issues the duo has “Despite the incident, I am glad to say Rahul and I remain good friends, and even on the field our camaraderie remained intact until the end of our careers. We continued to have some good partnerships and neither out cricket nor our friendship was affected."
On Sanjay Manjrekar:
In Mumbai cricket which thrives on mentoring and caring the youngsters, Sanjay Manjrekar was Sachin’s go-to guy in the earlier days in Indian colours. However, the relationship apparently soured since 2004 Multan Test.
Tendulkar writes, “It was when I was talking to Professor Ratnakar Shetty (about Multan declaration) that Sanjay Manjrekar who was in Pakistan as a commentator, turned up in my room. Sanjay said that it had been a brave decision to declare and that it was a good sign for Indian cricket. He carried on in that vein until I asked him if he really knew what he was talking about.”
“I explained to him that he was not aware of what had transpired in the dressing room and had arrived at his judgement without knowing the real facts of the matter. I made it clear that I did not appreciate his opinion which I thought was a deliberate attempt to be different.”
While Sachin Tendulkar did not write about it, Manjrekar’s ‘Elephant in the room’ comment about him in 2008 did not impress the little maestro much.
