Sachin Tendulkar's autobiography "Playing it my way" named Book of the Year

The autobiography of India’s batting legend Sachin Tendulkar “Playing it my way” has won the prestigious Crossword Book of the Year Award in the Autobiography category.

The book is penned by renowned cricket historian and Tendulkar’s close friend Boria Majumdar, who gives a rare insight into the life of a man who broke every possible batting record and captured the imagination of over a billion people.

The autobiography has in fact, also smashed various records in the publishing industry in India. Earlier, it also had entered the Limca Book of World Records for being the best selling adult hardback across both fiction and non-fiction categories. The book also holds the record for logging up Rs. 13.51 crore in retail value terms, with its cover price being Rs. 899.

Boria, who played a major role in chronicling Tendulkar’s journey, was pleased with the book receiving the recognition. He told IndiaToday, “It is a great honour. I'm pleased as punch with the award. It's so good to know that your effort has been appreciated.

"There are so many wonderful memories associated with this book and I am grateful to the fans and critics who have shown so much love and support. It's a special feeling."

The book is a cricket fan’s delight, detailing snippets about Tendulkar’s journey right from his early days playing cricket in the streets of Bandra to going onto becoming the greatest batsman of the century.

In fact, the idea of an autobiography of a Sachin Tendulkar materialised, a year after Tendulkar played his last Test against the West Indies in Wankhede in November 2013. Boria managed to convince the batting legend about to need of keeping his legacy alive so that it inspires millions of people even after a 100 years of his retirement.

According to IndiaToday, an official announcement of the award will be made in Mumbai later tonight.

Arguably the best batsman to have graced the game alongside Sir Don Bradman, Tendulkar was an epitome of batsmanship for over two decades for India. Among the numerous highlights of his career, the sandstorm century against Australia at Sharjah in 1998 standout, as does the 2003 World Cup where he was the highest run-getter. Although he changed his style of batting to a lesser aggressive version in 2000s, we brought back the Sachin of the 90s, at the very end of his career, and scored the first double hundred in ODI cricket.

Many current cricketers, including players like MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli consider Tendulkar a legend, and credit him for inspiring them to take up the sport of cricket.