Imperfect

Sanjay Manjrekar is a well known former Indian cricketer and currently a famous cricket commentator. Some of his views as a cricket pundit are valuable and profound but some of his view points are not popular among all the cricket fans. So when I came to know of his auto-biography during one of my daily visits to ESPNCricinfo.com, I made a mental note to read it. There was a also a preview chapter of his book on his visit to Pakistan as a young cricketer in 1989 on the same website and I found this preview chapter immensely engaging. The book didn't wow me but didn't disappoint me either.

Having read a few other biographies and auto-biographies on cricketers, I found Sanjay Manjrekar's book a little different. Most cricket autobiographies have usually been written by elite cricketers who are absolute legends of this game and the biographies are often written about cricketers who have done something out of the ordinary for this sport. Most of these are stories about an individual's struggle and how they plow through difficult times to become successful in their profession. That's where Sanjay Manjrekar's book is different. He was a talented batsman who rose on Indian national cricket scene in late 1980s and early 1990s and then faded into retirement by late 1990s. It's a story of how someone with talent and skill couldn't succeed because of overthinking about his game and his difficult attitude. His book, though not inspirational in many ways, reminds you how the most important things in life is simplicity of thought process and the humble attitude, and how absence of these could fail you professionally and personally. In the last few sections of the book, Sanjay points out how he gradually realized his strengths of being an eloquent English speaker to became a good cricket commentator and a live TV expert. He shows how being always aware about what your real strengths are, helps you achieve something which probably is not your planned career destination in first place.

In the book Sanjay Manjrekar talks about how he inherited the legacy of being successful cricketer from his father, Vijay Manjrekar (who himself was a successful Indian cricketer), just like all Indian kids do from their parents. Sanjay talks about how he felt to be destined to represent for India on international arena just because his father represented India. Being born and brought up in Mumbai, he gives good insights on the structure and the culture of cricket in Mumbai. He writes about the high expectation that elder cricketers set for the youngsters, how various elder cricketers helped youngsters in their difficult times and how good or bad word about a cricketer spreads quickly among the sporting circle. It is very interesting to read about the Mumbai culture of openness and helpfulness because the culture in northern Indian cities like Delhi is very cut throat and competitive. Sanjay gives a good account of his successful international tours to Caribbean (1988) and Pakistan (1989) where he was India's best batsman by some distance. Then he write about how he started getting complacent about improving his game and his physical fitness. As a result he had a disastrous tour of Australia which meant he was no longer a first preference in the Indian national team. Sanjay writes how his ouster from the national cricket team affected him as a person and how his overthinking prowess of analyzing his game made it even harder for him to gain his lost territory. He writes about how his retirement from professional cricket came sooner than he had imagined at the age of 31 when most cricketers hit the peak of their careers.

In my opinion Sanjay's ability of over-analyzing his cricketing technique is not a bad thing. Rahul Dravid, the great Indian batsman, also analyzed his game immensely in order to become the best batsman in the world. I am an over-analyzer of things myself and I too believe that at times it could result in a mental block. Believe me, my over-analyzing behavior helps me perform better as a software engineer where I am able to think of so many scenarios and problem areas which other people overlook. But I have come to realize that there is a need to strike a balance between the time that you spend in analysis and what output you expect from this activity of over-analysis. Sanjay, in his book as well, acknowledges that in his difficult period when he lost confidence in his batting technique, he couldn't focus on getting runs (the actual output in cricket) by not hitting fours or sixers but by pinching quick singles. Hence, it is important to always remind yourself of your duty in your profession rather than focusing just of the process and other endeavors of your profession.

Sanjay's book is a short read of two hundred pages. It is a much easier for a person who is an ardent cricket fan. It has its highs and lows and the emotion that a person experiences many times in his professional life. It's very relatable if you think you are imperfect and a work in progress. The following lines best summarizes the book:-

Like a father once said to his son: 'I made twenty mistakes in my life, you'll make twenty new ones'