Tendulkar Vs Agassi!

No no, it’s not a man to man duel or a comparison of their sporting prowess, it’s just that in the last few weeks I happen to read the autobiographies of these two sporting legends and I couldn’t stop myself from marvelling over their contrasting personalities and careers. Tendulkar’s autobiography was an automatic reading choice for a true blue Sachin fan like me not just because of the high anticipation attached with its launch but also due to its deemed Biblical status for the hard core cricket aficionados. Agassi’s autobiography on the other hand was not a natural choice, not that I don’t admire him as much but it was mainly due to one of my best friends valued recommendation that I resorted to reading it and my love for the game of tennis just added as the right trigger. And since I read them one after the other, a comparison of personalities was imminent but the startling contrast on the same was truly interesting.

Coverage – Both the books cover the sporting lives of  these two legends right from their anecdotes of childhood on how and when they actually took the game and the way it transpired into an epic success story. In both cases it talks in length about the most important duels of their sporting lives and also covers in detail their injury battles that went on to transform their character. Tendulkar however, have mostly refrained from touching upon the rather controversial issues like match fixing, IPL and doping and has been criticized as well for this evasion, but then he has categorically stated at the start of the book that he has not spoken about certain issues ever in his career as he was never comfortable doing so. Agassi, on the other hand has been as candid as one can be, be it his own trysts with the drug, his issues with his receding hairline or his take on anything that he felt was not so clean.

Love of the game – With the amount of success both these gentlemen have achieved in their respective careers it’s probably a given that both of them would have been madly in love with their trades. Not surprisingly enough Tendulkar has at length talked about his love for the game and all the sacrifices he has made to nurture his immense love for Cricket. But surprisingly, Agassi has time and again emphasized on the fact that how much he has always hated tennis. And it was only because of his Dad’s madness that he had to forcefully spend hours and hours toiling hard to excel in this sport and eventually weave his entire life around it. Weird, but true and the way he has narrated his frustrating experiences in this regards are outstanding.

Family life – Tendulkar has all his life epitomized and idolized his parents like an ideal son, he has time and again showered his gratitude for his Dad and Mom and emphasized on how they have been instrumental in the making of his remarkable career. He has also heaped high accolades for his elder brother Ajit on how he has been his partner in all the ups and downs of his cricketing career. Further to this, he has also defined his partnership with his wife Anjali, as the best he has ever had and he is indebted to her for all the sacrifices she has made in her career to let him flourish. Agassi on the other hand hasn't been so lucky with his relationships, though he maintained a cordial relationship with his mom and other siblings but one with his Dad had always been a wretched one. He always hated his dad for his dictatorial ways and his obsession for Andre’s excellence in Tennis, however in the hindsight whatever he eventually achieved in the game should be primarily attributed to his dad’s unparliamentary ways. Agassi’s love life has also been very contrasting one, he has been a maverick here as well and has had his share of affairs, breakups and divorce unlike the rather sedate and lyrical love story of the cricketing superstar.

Discipline & Work ethics – Leave aside Cricket, you would hardly find a more disciplined individual in any walk of life than Mr Tendulkar. His work ethics and focus for his art has been exemplary and almost impeccable. Undoubtedly, whatever he has achieved in his career is not just because of his god gifted talent but more so for his hard work and discipline towards the game. Agassi, however has been very volatile and lived on extremes with regards to his discipline and focus towards his game. For some periods he has been a strict disciplinarian, with a routine sans a blemish and on some he has been so reckless that it would bring a school boy to shame. No wonder, his good spells of tennis has also been so patchy and not so consistent as Master Blaster’s performances.

Contemporary Talk – Tendulkar has been as guarded in talking about his contemporaries or other legends of the game as he has always been all his life. The only aberration to this in his book has been his rather open hearted outburst against Greg Chappell, but for it and more for the disappointment of the grapevines he has been ever so courteous and gracious. Agassi on the other hand has been an absolute delight in this regards, he has blatantly spoken about his rivalries against Becker, Courier and Sampras and has also at length spoken on how acrimonious things have been between them on some occasions. And the manner in which he has touched upon these duels is one of the highpoints of his book.

Career wise – From the achievement standpoint Tendulkar has arguably achieved all that he could have as a cricketer and probably that no other cricketer has done in the past or might do in the future. Some might say a few triple tons would have made his CV a tad more complete but even without that, his has been a near perfect story, one that people can blindly idolize without any second thoughts. Agassi’s has been a total contrast though, with his talent, had he been Tendulkar-esque in his discipline and focus he would have clocked as many slams as Federer has won or even what his better half Stefanie has won. But he lived life on his own terms and probably has no regrets about it as well. His may not be a biblical story as Tendulkar’s but his is arguably a more practically possible one for the mortals.

Reader’s recommendation – Undoubtedly, both the books are a must read for any Tendulkar or Agassi fan. Tendulkar’s is more of a textbook, written well within the boundaries of the righteousness and for a true blue fan who has followed his career very closely, it offers not much novelty from the sensationalism standpoint. Agassi’s on the other hand is a perfect mix of his on the court and off the court exploits, that even his most ardent fans might not be well aware of. His may not be a prescribed textbook stuff but surely is a 70mm blockbuster material, full of action, romance and lots of drama. I enjoyed both these books to the core, Agassi’s a tad more for obvious reasons J.

Now it’s for you to decide, what’s your preferred flavor.

--

kin…