India's greatest sportspersons over the last two decades probably are Sachin Tendulkar, Leander Paes and Viswanathan Anand. Tendulkar's success is well-documented for the simple fact that the country lives and breathes cricket. The spotlight hasn't much been on tennis and chess troubadours Paes - India's only medalist in the 1996 Olympics - and Anand, who has won five world championship titles. V Krishnaswamy in his book Sachin: A Hundred Hundreds Now brings the fantastic trio together; a rare idea, one has to admit. However, Tendulkar has got the maximum space in the book and all his hundred international tons have been relived in great detail.
The 39-year-old batsman started his cricketing odyssey way back in 1989 and 23 years is a long time to remember all his centuries. From his first in England in 1990 to his latest in Bangladesh early this year, every hundred has been shed light upon a great deal. Not only that, but also under what circumstances those tons came in have also been touched on. A lot of trivia and quotes from former cricketers highlight the book. However that's not all.
The political scenarios across the world over this period of twenty years or so have also got a mention. From the Soviet Union's disintegration to the demolition of the Babri Masjid, to Queen Elizabeth II completing 60 years on the throne of Great Britain, several such historic political scenes daub the book. And that's a big downside to Tendulkar's tons'
03:35 PM, Jun 13, 2012
