AFTER TENDULKAR: THE NEW STARS OF INDIAN CRICKET
Soumya Bhattacharya
Aleph Book Company
217 pages; Rs 495
Ever since Sachin Tendulkar called it a day from international cricket, there have been so many books on him that another one with his picture on the cover is a good enough deterrent against picking it up. Fortunately, Soumya Bhattacharya’s After Tendulkar: The New Stars of Indian Cricket doesn’t focus on Tendulkar. Instead, it talks about the next generation of Indian cricketers who not only follow in the footsteps of Tendulkar but also Rahul Dravid, V V S Laxman and Sourav Ganguly.
The “Fab Four”, as these cricketing greats were fondly called, were as good as Indian batting got or perhaps will ever get. Consider the precedents in other sports: the National Basketball Association of the United States has discovered that the hunt for the next Michael Jordan has been a futile exercise and Liverpool Football Club will find it terribly difficult to replace their inspirational skipper Steven Gerrard. Likewise, Indian cricket’s new stars have found it tough to fill the boots of their illustrious predecessors.
The next generation on which Mr Bhattacharya, an editor with Hindustan Times, focuses includes Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Murali Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma. But as much as cricket fans would like to believe that Kohli could be the next Tendulkar or Pujara the next Dravid, it’s hard to see that happening. Kohli might match the insatiable appetite for runs that Tendulkar had, but it’s way too early to start making comparisons. Similarly, Pujara has this wonderful technique and is a proper Test cricket batsman – almost the odd one out in modern-day slam-bang cricket – but to reach Dravid’s level it will take monumental effort. It’s not as though the author is comparing the new generation to the old; the idea of the book seems to be looking at these stars who will shape the future of Indian cricket.
The book takes a close look at the cricket that follows Tendulkar’s retirement from November 2013 to September 2014 — the tours to South Africa, New Zealand, the 2014 World T20 and the disastrous tour to England. Mr Bhattacharya goes into detail about every match that took place in the span of 11 months. He peppers these match details – which get tedious after a while – with short profiles of the cricketers. Pujara’s story is really heartwarming; in fact, he doesn’t come across as a modern-day cricketer. On the other hand, as the author puts it, “in every sense Virat Kohli is the quintessential modern cricketer”, someone who thrives in every format of the game.
Mr Bhattacharya quotes cricketing experts and people close to these individuals to gain an insight into their character and personalities. It is mildly interesting to know about these cricketers but, frankly, apart from Kohli they haven’t achieved much to merit detailed assessment coverage. They are – as in the case of Rahane, Vijay and, some might say, even Sharma – yet to stamp their authority on the game. Mr Bhattacharya views them too optimistically and you sometimes feel he is being very generous.
The feeling is reinforced by the onslaught of facts and details from matches so the book starts reading like a report. It is hard to escape the notion that the author is struggling to provide insight into a subject with limited scope. Perhaps part of the problem is that the book is something of a rush job to coincide with the World Cup. Not in terms of content or research but as a subject — it has been too short a time to pick the new stars of Indian cricket after Tendulkar’s retirement. Ironically, one of the better chapters of the book is the one in which Mr Bhattacharya rivetingly describes the impact of Tendulkar’s retirement on the game of cricket in the country.
Given the small cast of this book, one can’t help but think that it may have been better if the author had explored some of the lesser-known cricketers on the domestic circuit as well. If you’ve passionately followed the progress of Indian team and cricketers in the last 12 months, it’s unlikely you will find anything strikingly new in this book. However, if for some reason – and that being Tendulkar’s retirement – you’ve lost interest in the sport, this is a good read to get clued in to Indian cricketers and what the future might hold for them.
Soumya Bhattacharya
Aleph Book Company
217 pages; Rs 495
Ever since Sachin Tendulkar called it a day from international cricket, there have been so many books on him that another one with his picture on the cover is a good enough deterrent against picking it up. Fortunately, Soumya Bhattacharya’s After Tendulkar: The New Stars of Indian Cricket doesn’t focus on Tendulkar. Instead, it talks about the next generation of Indian cricketers who not only follow in the footsteps of Tendulkar but also Rahul Dravid, V V S Laxman and Sourav Ganguly.
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The “Fab Four”, as these cricketing greats were fondly called, were as good as Indian batting got or perhaps will ever get. Consider the precedents in other sports: the National Basketball Association of the United States has discovered that the hunt for the next Michael Jordan has been a futile exercise and Liverpool Football Club will find it terribly difficult to replace their inspirational skipper Steven Gerrard. Likewise, Indian cricket’s new stars have found it tough to fill the boots of their illustrious predecessors.
The next generation on which Mr Bhattacharya, an editor with Hindustan Times, focuses includes Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Murali Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma. But as much as cricket fans would like to believe that Kohli could be the next Tendulkar or Pujara the next Dravid, it’s hard to see that happening. Kohli might match the insatiable appetite for runs that Tendulkar had, but it’s way too early to start making comparisons. Similarly, Pujara has this wonderful technique and is a proper Test cricket batsman – almost the odd one out in modern-day slam-bang cricket – but to reach Dravid’s level it will take monumental effort. It’s not as though the author is comparing the new generation to the old; the idea of the book seems to be looking at these stars who will shape the future of Indian cricket.
The book takes a close look at the cricket that follows Tendulkar’s retirement from November 2013 to September 2014 — the tours to South Africa, New Zealand, the 2014 World T20 and the disastrous tour to England. Mr Bhattacharya goes into detail about every match that took place in the span of 11 months. He peppers these match details – which get tedious after a while – with short profiles of the cricketers. Pujara’s story is really heartwarming; in fact, he doesn’t come across as a modern-day cricketer. On the other hand, as the author puts it, “in every sense Virat Kohli is the quintessential modern cricketer”, someone who thrives in every format of the game.
Mr Bhattacharya quotes cricketing experts and people close to these individuals to gain an insight into their character and personalities. It is mildly interesting to know about these cricketers but, frankly, apart from Kohli they haven’t achieved much to merit detailed assessment coverage. They are – as in the case of Rahane, Vijay and, some might say, even Sharma – yet to stamp their authority on the game. Mr Bhattacharya views them too optimistically and you sometimes feel he is being very generous.
The feeling is reinforced by the onslaught of facts and details from matches so the book starts reading like a report. It is hard to escape the notion that the author is struggling to provide insight into a subject with limited scope. Perhaps part of the problem is that the book is something of a rush job to coincide with the World Cup. Not in terms of content or research but as a subject — it has been too short a time to pick the new stars of Indian cricket after Tendulkar’s retirement. Ironically, one of the better chapters of the book is the one in which Mr Bhattacharya rivetingly describes the impact of Tendulkar’s retirement on the game of cricket in the country.
Given the small cast of this book, one can’t help but think that it may have been better if the author had explored some of the lesser-known cricketers on the domestic circuit as well. If you’ve passionately followed the progress of Indian team and cricketers in the last 12 months, it’s unlikely you will find anything strikingly new in this book. However, if for some reason – and that being Tendulkar’s retirement – you’ve lost interest in the sport, this is a good read to get clued in to Indian cricketers and what the future might hold for them.