I am currently reading Sachin Tendulkar's autobiography, "Playing it my way". Sachin retired from cricket about a year ago and at that time I wrote a post on how closely I had followed his matches and career. The man, whom I respect immensely for his humility and commitment to the game, has been an inspiration to millions of cricket lovers across the globe.
PS : (3rd January, 2014) Finished reading the book. Hats off to the man who went on to achieve greatness in spite of repeated injuries and breakdowns. Here is an excerpt from the book that left me speechless:
"It was on the eve of that West Indies match that I tried to introduce an element of fun into my batting practice. I was practicing some throw-downs from Gary Kirsten and was just about to wrap up the session when the idea came to me.I decided to close my eyes for six deliveries, just after the bowler released the ball, then I asked Gary if he had noticed anything different. Gary said he hadn't, except that my head was staying up when I was driving. I had to keep my head steady, because with your eyes shut you can easily lose the path of the ball with a very slight movement of the head. When I told him I'd had my eyes closed, he was shocked. I explained that I had watched his wrist position when he released the ball to see if it was, say, an outswinger, and then closed my eyes and visualized the path the ball would travel. After that I went a step further by keeping my eyes shut and telling the fielders where I had hit the ball, based on how and where I felt the ball on the bat. It was just for fun and I only did it once, but it did help me focus on the release of the ball, which is so important for a batsman."
That is unbelievable ! That is genius !!
PS : (3rd January, 2014) Finished reading the book. Hats off to the man who went on to achieve greatness in spite of repeated injuries and breakdowns. Here is an excerpt from the book that left me speechless:
"It was on the eve of that West Indies match that I tried to introduce an element of fun into my batting practice. I was practicing some throw-downs from Gary Kirsten and was just about to wrap up the session when the idea came to me.I decided to close my eyes for six deliveries, just after the bowler released the ball, then I asked Gary if he had noticed anything different. Gary said he hadn't, except that my head was staying up when I was driving. I had to keep my head steady, because with your eyes shut you can easily lose the path of the ball with a very slight movement of the head. When I told him I'd had my eyes closed, he was shocked. I explained that I had watched his wrist position when he released the ball to see if it was, say, an outswinger, and then closed my eyes and visualized the path the ball would travel. After that I went a step further by keeping my eyes shut and telling the fielders where I had hit the ball, based on how and where I felt the ball on the bat. It was just for fun and I only did it once, but it did help me focus on the release of the ball, which is so important for a batsman."
That is unbelievable ! That is genius !!
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Started to read the book again :)
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