NCP, Sena lock horns over Akhtar book

Worried that the Sharad Pawar-led NCP may steal a march over the Shiv Sena in connection with Shoaib Akhtar's autobiography which reportedly contains controversial remarks about Sachin Tendulkar, Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray asked Dilip Vengsarkar to keep away from the book release function.

Akthar's autobiography was to be released at a function in Mumbai on Saturday. However, the event was cancelled even as the 'Rawalpindi Express' gave interviews to the electronic media about the book.

Akhtar has lashed out against his own team members in the book and is understood to have made remarks about the Indian batting master, who he claimed was afraid of his bowling as the delivery speed was over 150 kph. Uddhav is believed to have sent instructions to Vengsarkar to keep away from the controversial cricketer as Akhtar's remarks against Tendulkar have triggered a global backlash. Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram has ridiculed the remarks and said it was an attempt to market his book before its official release on Sunday.

Full report here Times of India

Akhtar's autobiography must inspire others!

Now that Pakistan pace ace Shoaib Akhtar's book, Controversially Yours, is virtually assured of bestseller status, will other players take inspiration to write autobiographies? Here are some title suggestions... 

Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar's recent and controversial autobiography made me think. If he can 'write' a book, why not Indian Test cricketers?

Here are suggestions for autobiography titles:
The Great Wall of India, My Very Very Special Story, Viru's Gunning for a Six, Yuvi's Six Appeal and Saving for a Raina Day.

The English way
At least nine cricket books were written after England regained the Ashes in 2005. I wonder how many will be written after Andrew Strauss' men dethroned India to reach the No 1 Test ranking. Some zany ideas for autobiography titles for them: Eat, Pray and Cook, It Rings a Bell, My Broad, Broad Ways, Swann Song, Waltzing with Strauss, Fox Trott and Flint off his game?

Some ideas for Australian Test cricketers: Fast bowler Trent Copeland getting a wicket off his second ball in Test cricket at Galle inspired me with this novel notion. Why not title his biography, Cope Lands a Winner? Then I saw Peter Siddle in the Australian dressing room sitting between Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey. The title of his bio/ghosted autobiography sprung to my mind: Siddle in the Middle.

Full report here Mid-day

Akram tears into Shoaib Akhtar

 Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram on Saturday ridiculed Shoaib Akhtar and his controversial biography, which has made several tall claims, saying the pacer was a "problem" when he was an active player and remains just that even in retirement.

Akram pooh-poohed Shoaib's claims of making Sachin Tendulkar uncomfortable with his pace in the Faisalabad Test in 2006 and also rejected some of the other allegations he has made in the book titled 'Controversially Yours'.

"I remember Sachin's one innings when he was 16 and touring Pakistan. Sialkot Test was Sachin's 4th Test. He made his debut in that series. There was a lot of grass on the pitch. Waqar and I bowled very fast. Waqar, I think, was 19 and Sachin was 16.

Full report here Times of India

Shoaib Akhtar turns back the clock!

A new chapter to the history of one of the most controversial cricketers to ever grace the game was added as Shoaib Akhtar’s autobiography was launched in India on Friday.

Akhtar is supposedly the fastest bowler that the game has ever seen and is best remembered not only for bowling missiles that had stumps after stumps flying all around the ground but also for his antics off the field which included fights with the PCB,  many disciplinary hearing and suspensions. His long run up to the bowling crease was as talked about as his driving around in an expensive sports car when on tour. He was the ultimate ‘Rawalpindi Express’!

But all this is about to change with the release of ‘Controversially Yours’. This is what he will always be remembered for from now onwards.

From the excerpts that have been released to the media, the book marks Akhtar’s journey from an economically deprived childhood, when his family couldn’t even afford new clothes for Eid, to breaking into the Pakistani team, to becoming the man that broke the 100mph barrier.

Full report here Express Tribune

Know your CWG

Vijaya Khandurie's “Quiz Book” on Commonwealth Games take you on a trip that tests your memory and sporting knowledge.

The book concludes with a poignant reference to an Australian athlete. She was acclaimed as one of the most successful athletes to have represented a great sporting nation, winning sprint doubles (100m and 200m) at the Commonwealth Games in 1970 (Edinburgh) and 1974 (Christchurch) and signed off with a gold in 400m at Brisbane in 1982. She also won three Olympic silver medals (one in 1968 and two at the next Games in Munich). In 1995, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and two years later she sold one of her Olympic silver medals to raise funds and meet her medical expenses. She is presently living in Queensland.

The much-decorated Raelene Boyle richly deserves this space in ‘The Commonwealth Games Quiz Book' by Vijaya Khandurie. The Commonwealth Games are here but, sadly, negative publicity has cast a depressing spell over this avidly awaited sporting event in Delhi. Official merchandise, CWG-related cultural and entertainment shows, official theme songs, have slipped into the background as the organisers have struggled to cope with demands.

Full report here Hindu

For common knowledge

Writer and filmmaker Sunil Yash Kalra on his book on the Commonwealth Games.

The Commonwealth Games is more than just hopping around in the playground, says writer and filmmaker Sunil Yash Kalra. “It is an indicator of the nation’s dedication and integrity towards events of global concern. It’s a chance to prove oneself and be taken seriously, and India, unfortunately, blew it,” says Kalra, who owns a sporting venture called Indian Sports Knowledge Centre in Delhi and is also into research and product development related to sports. For the last ten years, he has been engaged in chasing and researching the Commonwealth Games. The result is the book: Road to Commonwealth Games 2010, a storehouse of information, documentaries and features on sports. 

Kalra’s book has interesting bits of information: that Delhi’s bid report for the CWG did not mention the need for any overarching governing body to look into doping issues. Hamilton, Canada, on the other hand, had mooted the idea of setting up the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sports. Also, while the CWG Organising Committee claims that Delhi Games would be Green Games, there is no such mention in the bid report. Interestingly, the handicrafts industry is expected to procure orders worth Rs 10 million during the Games. 

Full report here Indian Express

NBT publishes book on sports

National Book Trust, India is publishing a book titled Quest for Olympic Gold: Strategies for Excellence under its General series. The book, which was commissioned on the occasion of the Commonwealth Games at Delhi starting on 3rd October 2010, will be available to the buyers at the NBT Book Shop at its Vasant Kunj headquarters and the Asaf Ali Road during the Commonwealth Games at Delhi.

Considering the fact that India has one of the largest human resources in the world, our rather dismal status among the sports playing nations has understandably remained one of our biggest national disappointments. After all, what ails Indian sports and what can be the way ahead to stake a respectable claim in the international sports arena? The book seeks to discuss this all in a frank manner while delineating the roles of various stakeholders like the state and central governments including the Sports Authority of India, Indian Olympic Association, National Sports Federations, Media etc. In the backdrop of the concrete achievements of placing adequate world class sports infrastructure for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010 and the euphoria, both good and bad, associated with the event, the present book takes stock of the required groundwork that have been done and further needs to be done in the country’s quest to earn a rich haul of gold medals at the Mecca of all sporting events—the Olympics.

Arun Kumar Pandya, (IAS, batch 1957, Madhya Pradesh cadre), has held various responsible posts in the state government as well as at the centre retiring as Secretary to the Govt. of India, Department of Youth Affairs & Sports and Director-General, Sports Authority of India (SAI) in 1992.

Games they wrote

A deluge of books has hit the stands in anticipation of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi. V. Kumara Swamy leafs through them

Given the shambolic state of preparations for the Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2010, and the tales of corruption that have been cropping up every day, this particular edition of the Games will probably be the most written about ever. But there’s a raft of books out already in anticipation of the Games. And despite the negative news flow, or perhaps because of it, they look likely to generate a lot of reader interest.

“When I began writing the book it was all about the history, preparation, legacy of the Games and such things. But as things started unfolding I had to touch upon topics that I had not planned to include,” says Sunil Yash Kalra, the author of Road to Commonwealth Games 2010 (Penguin) which was released early this week.

The cover typeface of Sellotape Legacy: Delhi & the Commonwealth Games (HarperCollins India) gives the impression that it’s a newsy book about the secrets behind all that has gone wrong with the Games so far. But, for its authors Boria Majumdar and Nalin Mehta, it’s a bit of that and more.

Full report here Telegraph

India to win around 100 medals in CWG: Book

India's final medals tally in the Delhi Commonwealth Games would be around 100, according to a new book published by Penguin India.

The book, Road to Commonwealth Games 2010, forecasts 96-127 medals for the hosts in the October 3-14 quadrennial extravaganza with shooters expected to win some 30-35 medals.

Author Sunil Yash Kalra, who had earlier created a path-breaking docu-drama on India's women cricketers, believes medals, besides being the best indicators of the overall health of the sports establishment of a country, reflects the economic health too.

The book has been based on author's predictions on analyses, investments made in sports, athletes' past track records and recent performances vis-a-vis the performance of top five CWG athletes in same discipline.

Full report here Times of India 

Boria Majumdar and Nalin Mehta marvellously invoke the line about the Commonwealth being “a body searching for a purpose”, and apply that to Delhi’s appropriation of the Games as a symbol of India’s new place in the world order. They trace the origins and contours of the Delhi Games inside a wider picture of the Games being part of a complex, even conflicted “Commonwealth” organisation.

Sellotape Legacy: Delhi and
the Commonwealth Games
Boria Majumdar, Nalin Mehta
HarperCollins; Rs 450

The book begins with the current state of Delhi’s organisation on the eve of the event. Majumdar and Mehta then trace the evolution of the Commonwealth Games inside the Commonwealth project itself, before tracing India’s place in the Commonwealth as driven by Nehru’s foreign policy. The book concludes with an assessment of India’s current sporting condition.

The opening sections on the Games will attract most interest because the costs alone are staggering. From official figures they suggest that the original cost estimate of approximately $1.3billion has mushroomed to $15billion. That will make the Games seven times more expensive than Melbourne in 2006 and demonstrably the most expensive Commonwealth in Games history.

That $15billion figure is instructive. It matches the Andhra Pradesh government’s 2015 target for IT exports; the Union Government’s revenue for the recent sale of its 3G mobile phone spectrum; and the current level of the national subsidy for agricultural fertiliser. Union and Delhi governments think the Games are important, then.

Book on cricket pitch released

Noted litterateur Atulananda Goswami on Sep 1 released a book – Cricket Pitch Aru Bigyan (Cricket Pitch and Science) – written by curator Dr Sunil Kumar Baruah – in a function at the Lakhsmiram Baruah Sadan Guwahati.

The book is being written in Assamese by Dr Baruah, who has loads of experience in preparing cricket pitches in the State. He is associated with Assam Cricket Association (ACA) as a curator and has prepared the Nehru Stadium pitch for One-day Internationals on several occasions.

Releasing the book, Goswami said although he has very little knowledge about cricket, he became upset when he came to know about the match-fixing practice in cricket. The Sahitya Academy Award winner literature said corruption in sports was unearthed in the Mahabharata era when Guru Drunacharyya asked Ekalavya’s right thumb as gurudaskhna so that Ekalavya can never beat his favoured pupil Arjuna.

Goswami urged the sports administrators not to indulge in corrupt practices.

Full report here Assam Tribune

‘It’s a last minute patch up job to get the event going’

As Boria Majumdar and Nalin Mehta set out to unravel the layers of the Commonwealth Games 2010, they zeroed down on the title ‘Sellotape Legacy’ with “some degree of disappointment.” They were “absolutely convinced that from here on what India can best achieve at the Games will be a Sellotape Legacy— it’s a last minute patch up job to get the event going.” They reveal how “there should have been one person with the sole authority of taking decisions, as was in the 1982 Asiad. Rajiv Gandhi, for good or bad, could take calls as multiple decision makers are catastrophic for the Games.” Majumdar and Mehta get candid with Sukalp Sharma on their research, experience, revelations, and all that has gone into their latest offering—Sellotape Legacy: Delhi and the Commonwealth Games.

You mentioned how sporting events “are about cities and nations and their places in the world.” So, how would you rate the Commonwealth Games and Delhi?
As we have argued in the book the Games could surely have played a part in securing for India a place in the list of nations, which have played host to mega events. It is a well established strategy—use sport to position a nation in the world parliament of nations. China used Beijing to establish itself as the world’s premier sporting power, beating the US was, for example, the real aim and the real intent was world supremacy. Given the state of affairs prevalent in Delhi, India will need a miracle to achieve this goal.

Full interview here Financial Express

Is it a 'bloody' coup?

It’s shaken up the literatti and most certainly the twitteratti — for iconic cricketer Sachin Tendulkar’s limited edition book (reportedly 10 of which are already pre-sold) of his autobiography — with his own bloodmixed into the paper pulp — got people into a vociferous mood yesterday.

Proceeds from the same will be going towards the sportsman’s charity to build a school. However, society still had plenty of opinions.

Publisher and writer Shobhaa De tweeted, "Sachin’s blood and saliva in an 852 pages book costing $75,000, weighing 37kg? Aaaargh! This blood edition OPUS sounds bloody awful, almost sick."

When asked if she felt this amounted to going to bizarre lengths to publish a book, she said, “In today’s highly competitive times — anything goes! It’s a publishing gimmick and a very unique one at that!! As a publisher myself, I may find it in bad taste, but since the whole thing is charity-driven — what a bloody coup!”

Full report here DNA

Related news

'Blood on book, bizzare but laudable act of charity by Sachin'‎  NDTV.com
Biography contains Tendulkar's blood‎ Yahoo! Eurosport UK

Beautiful Game, Beautiful Book

There are only two class of men this season, those who play and those who watch. So there wasn’t much of a choice but to go Waka Waka and let the ball take a dribble this time in the column. After a big time hunt for a football-savvy book buff, Kamalram Sajeev helped manage a sneak, just in time to meet the deadline. And to him, “soccer is not about the statistics but the aesthetics, and that is precisely why my all-time favourite football book is Galeano’s Football in Sun and Shadow.”

The book, as the title’s adage  rightly says, is best described as an ‘emotional history of World Cup football’. Galeano, born in Uruguay in 1940, like most Latin American boys, dreamed of becoming a football player when he grew up.  It is his yearning for the game that is reflected in Football in Sun and Shadow, one of his early books. The book traces the history of the game, it’s evolution into a religion especially in Latin America and paints vivid sketches of the immortal football moments with poetic panache for which the book is best loved.

“The book is an aesthetic enlargement of the game’s great moments, an analysis of the style of approach of players. It transports you to a different level, where the book reads as beautifully as the game itself,” says Kamalram Sajeev. “Also, this book is the basis of much of the football philosophy that we see employed in Malayalam texts on the game, fiction and non-fiction.”

Full report here New Indian Express

Review: All That You Can’t Leave Behind

REVIEW
All That You Can’t Leave Behind: Why We Can Never Do Without Cricket
Soumya Bhattacharya
Penguin,
Rs 199
Pp 129
ISBN: 9780143066293
Paperback


Blurb
If one were to do a nationwide poll of Indians born after Independence and ask which is the one date they remember most, the answer may well be 25 June 1983, the date on which India won the cricket World Cup. It is often said that cricket in India is like a religion; nothing could be more misleading. Religion has scarred the nation more deeply than anything else. Cricket is the balm that heals.

In our collective consciousness, there is nothing quite like cricket. As the most visible expression of national identity, as an obsession or a dream, cricket is the only thing that possibly unites a country as diverse and as contradiction-ridden as India.

In this brilliant book, Soumya Bhattacharya shows how we have made this game our own, given it our own colour, our own customs, our own codes. And how cricket in turn has come to permeate every aspect of our public life, from popular culture to politics—so that, when a game is on, the rest of life happens strictly between overs. In the end, All That You Can’t Leave Behind is as much about India as it is about cricket.

Our secular institution Deccan Herald
Hockey continues to be our national sport (yes, from time to time, we need to keep reminding ourselves) and disciplines such as tennis and more recently badminton have captured the imagination of Indian sports lovers. But nothing quite excites and drives us like cricket does. Everyone has an opinion, and the beauty is that there is no such thing as a correct opinion or a wrong one. Yes, statistics throw up cold numbers and therefore leave little room for debate, but that is certainly not the case when it comes to opinion.
Not everyone who is passionate to the extent of being obsessive about cricket, however, gets a platform to express himself. Most of us have to make do with discussions with friends, which begin pleasantly enough and soon become animated before mushrooming into full-blown and heated arguments because each man has his opinion, and is completely convinced that he is correct. Time after time.

Then, we have people like Soumya Bhattacharya, tied to cricket through a special bond that was the extraordinary World Cup triumph in 1983. Bhattacharya is fortunate in that he is in a position where he can share his views with millions of people. Fortune, however, has had very little role to play in the manner in which he has communicated with fellow cricket-lovers through All That You Can’t Leave Behind.

This labour of love isn’t overpowering in that it doesn’t beat you into accepting the author’s point of view as being the only one worth consideration. If anything, All That You... is a personal account of a fascinating relationship that began with Kapil Devils conquering the world, and that hasn’t suffered because of the passage of time or the escalation of responsibilities.

Given that he is the Resident Editor of The Hindustan Times in Mumbai, Bhattacharya doesn’t need a book to influence opinions, which in any case doesn’t seem to be his motive. Right at the beginning, though, he debunks the popular myth that cricket in India is a religion.

Kumble's new googly!

Ace cricketer Anil Kumble brings the same poise and polish to his job as a lensman as he does on the pitch
He admits he is not technically best equipped to understand the nuances of photography; yet, he has some stunning offerings, as breathtaking as his dismissals of the opposition on the cricket field. Anil Kumble, a gentleman on and off the field, brings you a coffee table book titled Wide Angle – Candid Moments From My Playing Days.

The book, shot on Canon equipment, is a delight. Imagine Kumble, intense, in a combative mood, plotting the downfall of his victim with a top spinner, a flipper, a googly, or just plain, quick and straight delivery. The same man, holding his breath, waiting patiently to “capture” a leopard sliding down a tree. It is one of his best snaps in the book apart from his personal favourite – Sachin Tendulkar's 35th Test century. “I had Sachin with his bat raised and the scoreboard in the background.”

Full report here Hindu

REVIEW: Wide Angle

REVIEW:
Wide Angle-Candid Moments from my Playing Days
Anil Kumble
Printed by Canvera.com
Designed and published by Krab Media
Available exclusively online from wideangle.canvera.com.
Rs. 5,900
Pp 182

Review

Dreamcricket.com
Apart from being India's greatest match-winning bowler, there have been very few cricketers who have worn the India cap with such grace, dignity and patriotism as Anil Kumble. It has been nearly two years since his retirement from international cricket, though he is still making his mark in the IPL.

Now this outstanding coffee-table book reveals a hitherto hidden talent of the master leg spinner who bowled his heart out for India over two decades. Judging from this collection, photography is more than a hobby, it is a passion for Anil.

Kumble is one of those rare sportspersons who loves to explore every country he visits instead of being cooped up in five-star comfort. It is this quest for knowledge allied to his sharp intellect that makes Anil stand out in a crowd and this book is a wonderful keepsake not only for Anil himself, but for his countless fans around the world.

A different spin

Cricketer Anil Kumble shows he can juggle the ball and the camera equally well, with his photography book Wide Angle which has some rare shots of Kumble's teammates

Interviews with Anil Kumble usually follow a set pattern. He speaks his mind, as strong words and candour light up the interaction. And when you think it's over, Kumble will shift his attention to the accompanying photojournalist. Soon there will be a discussion about angles, lighting, the clarity of images and shutter speed. Kumble will do a snap appraisal of the pictures and it's a trait that highlights the active photographer who lurks beneath his larger-than-life cricketer image.

And it was no surprise that Kumble the photographer has mined his memories through freeze frames of a two-decade career. The pictures ranging from his favourite lightning bolt across the Durban skyline, to Venkatesh Prasad in drag, are all part of Wide Angle, a book of photographs that was launched here on Wednesday.

Full report here Hindu

Cricket, books and more

When an MBA with a regular banker's job gets tired of the routine, he feels it is time to sit back and do some soul searching. “At 35, I was beginning to get comfortable with my job and I was not pleased with myself with the feeling,” says novelist Harimohan Paruvu.

He quit his cushy job and began to focus towards an unseen journey, “my idea was to take up fiction writing, but realised fiction will take a long way to go in our country. Until I was ready with my first book The Men Within which is India's first cricket novel in English, I was keeping myself busy with content writing and copy editing,” he recollects.

Harimohan recently released his second novel titled If You Love Someone. And the novelist is busy doing round of the book stores to gauge the response. His visiting card mentions novelist, motivational speaker, workshop facilitator and management consultant, when asked which part of the various titles are the most important, Harimohan replies, “Novelist.” And pausing for a moment he adds, “actually I am active as all the above mentioned.”

Full report here Hindu

Some people are playing by the book

The Indian Premier League season is back, and so is Fake IPL Player. Cashing in on the highly controversial anonymous blogger called Fake IPLPlayer, who took the IPL 2009 season by storm, HarperCollins Publishers has just come out with a book called The Gamechangers by The Fake IPL Player. The book is about the blogger spreading gossip and tainting reputations with the scandalous revelations on his blog, even as Indian Bollywood League, India’s premier T20 cricket tournament gets all set for its third edition. 

While this may be the most whacky sports-related book this season, the entire publishing community sees a big opportunity in view of the big sports events lined up, off the field.

“Certain categories of books such as biographies and almanacs will see a spurt of interest with IPL 3 and Commonwealth Games,” says Lipika Bhushan, manager marketing, HarperCollins Publishers India. Not surprisingly, all publishers have big releases lined up for the next few months. Penguin India will soon release a biography of Indian cricket captain MS Dhoni; a book on India’s small-town cricket heroes; Abhinav Bindra’s autobiography and Karun Chandok’s diary of his first year in Formula 1. Harper-Collins India is coming out with a book on the Commonwealth Games by Boria Majumdar and Nalin Mehta around the middle of this year, when the buzz around the games is likely to peak.

Sports writer Gulu Ezekiel’s update of Sachin: The Story of the World’s Greatest Batsman (Penguin India) is set to be released later this month amidst the IPL fever. Some industry experts believe that the interest could even spread to other genre—such as fiction—with sports as the central theme. Perhaps, that explains the buzz around the The Gamechangers.

Full report here Economic Times