NEW DELHI: "You are blessed with so much talent. You can see the ball a split second earlier than me..." was how legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar described the batting prowess of his 'favourite' former teammate VVS Laxman during the 1999-2000 Australia tour, reveals a new book "Sachin@50: Celebrating a Maestro".
The story, narrated by former Indian cricketer MSK Prasad in the book, was from a conversation between Prasad, Laxman and Sachin on their favourite players in the then Indian Team touring Australia.
While Prasad, who was also part of the team, said he liked Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly and VVS Laxman; Tendulkar, who was captain of the then Indian team, declared Laxman as his favourite player.
"If you don't smile and show your teeth, I'll say you are my favourite player," said Tendulkar to the always smiling Laxman who thought the Master Blaster was simply making fun of him.
But Tendulkar wasn't. He even elaborated on the reasons for picking the stylish middle-order batsman as his favourite player among the likes of Dravid, Ganguly and several others.
"You are blessed with so much talent. You can see the ball a split second earlier than me. God has given you exceptional talent which you are not able to understand," said Tendulkar as recounted by Prasad in the book, which has who's and who of the sporting world sharing their experiences with the legend himself.
1/10:Sachin Tendulkar turns 50
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2/10:Sachin Tendulkar
<p>Sachin Tendulkar, the evergreen poster boy of Indian cricket, forever the Boy Genius who epitomized youth and youthful heroism, turns 50 on April 24.</p>Getty Images
3/10:Life devoted to cricket
<p>The legend has seen many ups and downs, exhilarating moments and other vignettes in his life devoted to cricket. </p>Getty Images
4/10:Baby-faced boy wonder
<p>Sachin Tendulkar battled the fiercest of fast bowlers aged 16 in 1989, in Pakistan as the curly-haired, baby-faced boy wonder. </p>Getty Images
5/10:'Nahin, main khelega'
<p>Sachin had refused to take the sagely advice of the more battle-hardened colleagues to retire hurt with a bloodied nose, with a stern shriek: "Nahin, main khelega".</p>Getty Images
6/10:Man of milestones
<p>But Tendulkar is nothing if not a man of milestones. He just had to get to another 50, even though he retired ten years ago. </p>Getty Images
7/10:Fifties galore
<p>Tendulkar has scored 68 half-centuries in Tests, cracked 96 in ODIs, smashed 116 in First-Class cricket and hit 114 in List A games. </p>TNN
8/10:16 fifties in T20s
<p>Add to those the 16 Tendulkar got in T20s, mostly in the IPL.</p>Getty Images
9/10:Century of centuries
<p>Tendulkar is the only cricketer to score 100 international centuries and honoured with the coveted Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour. </p>Getty Images
10/10:Greatest season
<p>In 1998, when the captaincy was taken away from him, Tendulkar recorded probably his greatest season. </p>TNNTendulkar, dubbed as the 'God of Cricket', as per the conversation, said unlike Laxman, god gave him the "minimum talent" which he was "maximising".
"I have four gears in my batting -- defence, push, drive and loft. I understand the conditions and use my logic and perform accordingly. You have so much talent that you can straightway bat on fourth gear. You see the ball so early that you don't worry about the conditions.
"That way, sometimes you click, and sometimes you fail. The day you realise the value of the first three gears, you will become a legend of the game," he explained.
A tribute to the global sporting phenomenon, "Sachin@50: Celebrating a Maestro" features essays and pieces by well-known figures, including Tendulkar's family -- wife Anjali Tendulkar and elder brother Ajit Tendulkar -- and cricket legends Sunil Gavaskar, Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh and Rohit Sharma.
The book, published by Simon & Schuster India, will be officially launched on the occasion of Tendulkar's 50th birthday on Monday.
(AI image)
