Anjali Doshi

Tendulkar in Wisden – An Anthology of a Genius

Any cricket lover will know the name Sachin Tendulkar, as English I have seen him bat against England often and always victorious. Tendulkar in India is the closest person to a living deity, the only way to describe him to non-cricket fans, is he is like Beckham, but with the skill set Beckham could only ever dream of.

Sachin Tendulkar first appeared in the cricket bible Wisden in 1989 and since then he has been a permanent fixture as he broke records, run rates and more throughout his career. In fact if this book took his every entry in to Wisden the book would be as thick as the annual Wisden, this anthology is a wonderful edited account of his career.

Ricky Ponting opens his forward to the book states the one fact nobody will ever be able to dispute; “Sachin is the greatest batsman I ever played with or against, because he made batting look so simple.” I doubt there is a cricket fan alive that would not agree with that fact.

Spread across nine interesting chapters Anjali Doshi has edited the first living record of a player still alive today. He choice of chapter headings give a wide spread of his career from his first century at the age of 17 at my beloved Old Trafford and that was a glimpse of what was to come over his career. Anyone that witnessed his batting could be reduced to tears at the beauty of it, or as opposition fans the uselessness of the attack bowling, or so it seemed.

One of the hardest jobs for Anjali Doshi must have been what to edit out and what to keep in and that is just when compiling the chapter the Ten Best Innings because we are talking about a genius of a batsman. Highlighting how Tendulkar hijacked the final farewell to Steve Waugh’s international career with a 241 not out. That was a batting display of pure beauty, aggression and patience that was referred to in Wisden as ‘almost superhuman.’

As well as chapters that cover his early years and more importantly the world cups that he played in between 1992 and 2011. It also explains that it was the 1983 World Cup that drove Tendulkar picked up the bat as he thought the beautiful trophy should be in his hands, and how grateful we now are to have seen him play in the competition.

Tendulkar in Wisden is an anthology that every cricket fan will want on his shelves and will be able to pick up and read anytime they want to smile. This book is a brilliant homage to the greatest batsman that I have seen in my lifetime. Well edited and of the high standard one expects from Wisden who are rightfully the chronicler of cricket.… (más)