Playing is Sachin Tendulkar's way

If Sachin Tendulkar were to convert each of his runs in international cricket into a word, he would have a fairly thick book in his hand. But he does have a fairly thick book in his hand now. Where did the man with an almost falsetto voice, the man of few words, someone who guards his opinion with a seemingly politically correct-to-the-fault attitude, find the will to write a book?

Sachin Tendulkar and runs are somehow welded entities in cognitive and collective consciousness of Indian fans. He cannot convert them into words much the way people cannot separate the two. Runs will not speak as powerfully for him as they once did. Bat does not talk any more for him. His book, Playing It My Way, is his new bat.

Sporting a striped black blazer, Tendulkar is watchful on the eve of launch of his book. He could as well be adjusting his visor, and complete the other Tendulkaresque things he does before facing a bowler. It is unlikely that the batsman, who played even the slowest of spinners with his helmet on, is going to let his guard down.

Nothing so far suggests that the book will open a can of worms, considering the Master rode the fortunes of Indian cricket through its most turbulent phases – the match-fixing scandal in late 1990s and now the IPL spot-fixing case. And yet, he hardly made his stand known publicly. It's an oft repeated charge by his baiters. And they are not going to be any kinder if the book fails in this regard.

"The only things that I am a hundred per cent sure of are mentioned in my book. Only then it has some value and will be appreciated. You have read a few excerpts and I have expressed myself wholeheartedly. But if I don't have first-hand information about things, then it is unwise to do that (write them) because it is a loose statement," Tendulkar says.

"I don't want to make any loose statement just because people believe that I am of a stature and I should make a statement."

And yet, his book is the most talked about. The clamour for excerpts, the near voyeuristic thrill in knowing what goes on in one of the most locked-up minds in the country, is quite apparent at a mass level. It has been 25 years of bottling it up for him, at least he never really did open up publicly.

"Before this, I had an important job on hand — to play well for India. To focus on what I am supposed to be doing. I felt that engaging myself into doing other things which are not going to contribute to me playing better cricket, should not take up my energy," he says.

"And once my cricket is done, then maybe I could concentrate on something else and if I disagree with something, I could opine on it myself. Earlier, my bat did the talking, now that the bat has been taken away, I can speak a little bit."

A flourisher with runs, did he have to graft the words out of him? Was it difficult, for arguably the best batsman ever, to change his stance whilst writing a book?

"No. Staying quiet was difficult. There were times when I felt like talking but I also felt that focus should be on my game because, you know, one article would be followed by another article. And I don't want to get into that tangle and it was always wiser, I felt that I would follow up with bigger scores rather than bigger articles."

One saw the orator in him, during his farewell Test at Wankhede last year, there were millions fighting back tears. Tendulkar can talk, his bat, a phrase he repeats often, has done more talking though. And now the book. He sees it as a natural progression. A gift, an inheritance.

"I come from a literary family and background. My father wrote, my eldest brother wrote, and then Ajit wrote. They have written a number of books, so I thought I should have at least one chance to express myself and this is a good opportunity. I thoroughly enjoyed whatever has come my way and thank God for it.

"I just wanted to share that with everyone. It is impossible to share everything that has happened in my life, but whatever it is, there has been an honest and sincere effort in sharing my thoughts. That's what matters. So, I just wanted to play it my way."

Excerpts from the book, especially those about Greg Chappell, have made headlines and have seen his former teammates rallying in support of the Master. Tendulkar says his book is unlikely to create animosity between him and his fellow players.

"I don't think that should be a problem because I am not hurting anyone and all are friends. Whatever I wrote, my teammates know about it. Except things related to Greg, which has nothing to do with players and my relationship. But anything to do with players, I have clarified with them face to face."

He has hung up his playing shoes, penned the last line of his first book. That final full stop in his book must have been like the last run he scored in Test cricket.

"It was a sigh of relief. We have been working for three years and now it's complete. I thought all the effort we had put in was all worth it in the end and I saw the book being completed and everything, whatever we wanted to select, is selected. I was satisfied."

But not all of it, he says, was easy. For the man who played top-flight cricket for 25 years and virtually lived in a spotlight, there were going to be challenges. "The most difficult part was to write about my relationship with Anjali. I always kept it close to my heart and many things only very few people knew."

So, there is more to Tendulkar than all the runs he has scored. And possibly there is more to the man, who is always padded up in his mind and on guard, than his book is expected to reveal.