It's the season for cricketing autobiographies. Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen is creating waves with his autobiography, which has leveled several allegations against his England teammates. The piece of work is being slammed, defended and praised by English cricketers past and present, and the controversy refuses to die down.

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Sachin Tendulkar's autobiography 'Playing it My Way' hits the stands on November 6, that is, in less than a month. This is surely one of the most anticipated autobiographies written by a sportsperson ever. In the book, Sachin promises to tell us things he has never told us before about his life and career. So what could be the things a fan would be interested to know about?

We have to assume that there would be nothing earth-shattering in Sachin Tendulkar's autobiography. Why? 

Because Tendulkar is known to be a reticent person who attempts to avoid controversy. Over the years he has maintained a stoic silence over several controversies in Indian and international cricket, choosing to be unreachable or offering no comment. Thus, we cannot, for example, expect a stunning revelation about match-fixing in Playing It My Way. Those shocks are expected from Kevin Pietersen, never from Sachin Tendulkar. So let's begin with what we may never find out about:

1) His fractured friendship with Vinod Kambli: Tendulkar and Kambli used to be the best of friends in school, and then in the early days of their careers. While Tendulkar broke into the Indian team in 1989, Kambli took a while longer, debuting only in 1993. While Kambli's start was brilliant, he began to falter after West Indies exposed his weakness with the short ball. Kambli's partying ways and attention to style over substance is also blamed for his fall from grace. While Tendulkar did support Kambli initially, helping him make several comebacks into the Indian side while the former was captain, their relationship has gone sour in recent years. Kambli created a controversy first in the TV show Sach Ka Saamna by claiming that Tendulkar could have done more to save his career. Then, Tendulkar did not mention Kambli in his retirement speech and did not call him for his farewell party. 

However, Sachin is quite unlikely to speak about Kambli in his autobiography, given how susceptible Kambli is to controversy and Sachin's own stoic silence on the matter. A few mentions of Kambli cannot be ruled out, but they will likely be non-controversial and relating to their younger days.

2) The match-fixing saga of 2000: Again, I expect this topic to receive only passing mention in the autobiography. The issue is highly controversial and there could be legal problems involved if Sachin parts with information which is 'classified'. He has time and again maintained that he knew little about the matter, and it would make no sense to open a can of worms at this point of time. The issue is long dead and the convicted players already punished. Cue ex-Pakistani keeper Rashid Latif One revelation might lead to a counter accusation or claim and then a chain of controversies might erupt.

3) Monkeygate scandal: Did Sachin Tendulkar lie when he told the jury in Australia that Harbhajan Singh had hurled an Indian expletive (maa ki) and not 'monkey' at Andrew Symonds, during the 2008 series in Australia? We might never find out. The incident happened six years ago. Harbhajan is out of the side for good, and he has claimed that he never called Symonds monkey. The issue has racial overtones. It's likely to remain dead as a dodo.

4) His go-slow during the 100th century: Tendulkar may never admit that he batted slowly during his famous (or infamous) 100th international century. On a flat track against one of the weaker attacks in the world, Tendulkar took 138 balls to reach his century. He scored his first 80 runs off 100-odd deliveries and then got even slower just as the slog overs approached. It was as clear as day that Sachin was desperate to score the elusive 100th. But we will likely never get him to admit that his tactics were deliberate and dare it be said, selfish.

5) Fixing in IPL: Like the 2000 match fixing controversy, the IPL match fixing scandal is likely to get only scant attention in Tendulkar's autobiography. The issue is too recent and a lot of very powerful feathers might be ruffled if Sachin parts with inside information. Then again, he might not be privy to such information at all. The one advantage in this case, even if Sachin makes some expose', is that he is seen to be a clean cricketer, whose word may be more believable.

6) Ferrari controversy: Fiat gifted Sachin Tendulkar a Ferrari, and Michael Schumacher presented it to him. Then Sachin sought exemption from the 120% import duty (amounting to Rs 1.13 crores) and all hell broke loose. The waiver was granted, but Sachin was served notice by the Delhi High Court. Sachin 'critics', whose primary business in life seems to be to tarnish his legacy, made sure the request and waiver became a national issue. Sachin is unlikely to speak about this incident in his autobiography, as it may have legal implications. But we might get a passing reference to the controversy and perhaps a defence.

7) The Mike Denness ball-tampering controversy: During the second Test against South Africa in November 2001, Sachin was seen cleaning the seam of the ball. Match referee Mike Denness declared Sachin guilty of ball tampering and handed him a one Test match ban. Denness also took action against five other Indian cricketers for other charges. This led to an uproar in India. Matters escalated, Denness was banned from entering the venue for the third test and it was declared unofficial. 

Reopening the chapter now would cause more trouble and perhaps a fresh racism controversy. Thus Sachin would ideally like to keep the lid closed on this issue. He might however, speak about his actions on the ball itself.

BCCI is not the England and Wales Cricket Board. The Indian board doesn't tolerate much dissent even from ex-players who retired a couple of decades ago. Sachin Tendulkar might be a big icon and harder to bully, yet it is unlikely that the Board will stay quiet if he breaks the fourth wall. 

So what can you expect from Playing It My Way? Personally, I expect anecdotes, interesting tidbits about dressing room conversations, interesting incidents or experiences from Sachin Tendulkar's playing career, his battle with multiple injuries and his second wind of form, and so on. As a reasonable fan I would also expect to find out about his friendships with his colleagues and coaches. Greg Chappell may not be missed.

The opinions I have expressed here are personal, and in no way do I possess any unreleased information about the content of Playing It My Way. The observations made above have been made simply on the basis of what I know of Sachin Tendulkar as a player and a person. I would be thrilled to be proved wrong.