Journalist Rajdeep Sardesai picks Indian cricket's Best XI

Mumbais monsoon had probably never cast such a pallid gloom in the Sardesai household as it did around 10 years ago in the month of June Veteran cricketer Dilip Sardesai lay fighting for his life on the hospital bed of the ICU at the Bombay Hospital in Churchgate The meds refused to alleviate the pain and for once Dilip who never even winced when being struck by a hard fiveandahalfounce cricket ball appeared to be giving up Yet when the TV set in the corner of the room relayed a rather sorry dismissal of Rahul Dravid in an India Vs Ireland match Dilip couldnt help but take stock and react with an expletive How could he get out like that I can understand other batsmen getting out like that but not Rahul He is technically perfect his son Delhibased Rajdeep editor of a leading television news channel recounts him as saying in his new book Democracys XI Juggernaut Books Exactly a week later on July 2 Dilip passed awayDilips obsession with the game of bat and ball now gets a fitting tribute within the pages of his sons narrative which tells of the meritocratic rise of 11 cricketing legends Bishan Singh Bedi Kapil Dev Sourav Ganguly and Mahendra Singh Dhoni among the many who shaped the sports history in democratic India I had three motivations to write this book says Rajdeep in a telephonic interview For starters if we want to celebrate the fact that we are now a champion team I think it was important to tell the story of Indian cricket as it happened over the last 70 years Second I wanted to show how unlike our Bollywood stars our sporting heroes who are the real superstars are driven by raw talent hard work and sacrifice Lastly I wanted to point out how cricket breaks barriers and unites the country like nobody doesThe result is a book filled with interesting vignettes personal encounters and interviews with friends relatives and peers to give a bitesized yet wholesome tale of Rajdeeps favourite XI and their sweet struggles on and offfield The cricketers I chose for this book were a very personal choice Rajdeep clarifies before we accuse him of forgetting significant names I was very clear that I wanted to write about cricketers I had met and spoken to extensively Two of them had passed away Dilip and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi but I had interacted with them extensively The other nine are simply people who represent a specific generation So the 70s is represented by Gavaskar the 80s by Dev and the 90s by Tendulkar and Mohammad Azharuddin Dhoni and Virat Kohli represent 21st century India I guess there was an element of a chronological order he saysBut at its core the book is also a story of cricket and India and how the country moved from a land of scarcity where you had one bat and you were lucky to have that to an India where you have dozens of bats and multimillion contracts for them says Rajdeep while referring to Virat Kohlis R100 croreplus eightyear bat contract with MRFHis own father Rajdeep recalls received a meager R250 per Test match with no extra allowances The one time he signed a formal contract with a bat manufacturer in 1965 the year he scored his first Test century he got no money but a guarantee of three new bats a year he saysThat the game has changed phenomenally is not unknown But the nature of the sport remains the same It still banks only on talent says Rajdeep who before his successful stint with journalism harboured dreams of following in his fathers footsteps Rajdeep also captained Mumbai schools and played firstclass cricket at OxfordMy father would often tell me I am not going to be on the field to score runs for you You are going to have to do that But there came a stage when I realised that I wasnt good enough I probably didnt have the fire in the belly because I didnt have to struggle like him he confessesHaving said that Rajdeep still follows the game passionately And like any ultimate fan boy is still curious about the lives of the legends on the field The book he says was a good excuse to dig deeper It also helped him finally clinch an interview with Dhoni who for reasons known to him best has a strict nointerview policy I told Dhoni I was my fathers son and that worked he says of how he convinced the former captain to speak for this book Also many years ago in 2008 when my son who is a big fan of his and I ran into him during breakfast at the hotel in Mohali where he was put up Dhoni came up to me saying there are only two journalists I like on television ndash one is Dr Prannoy Roy and the other is you It made my sons day and it also helped me break the ice with him says RajdeepWhen the two met in May this year Rajdeep recalls Dhoni giving him a straight three hours for the interview It was terrific because he switched off his phone and put a do not disturb board If you manage to break that wall Dhoni can be quite honest Personally speaking to him was quite a lifelearning experience for me says Rajdeep One thing that stayed with me was his focus and how he takes life one step at a time So when he was a railway ticket conductor at Kharagpur he was only thinking of how he would move up from a Class 3 employee to a Class 2 He wasnt thinking about lifting the World Cup in 10 years I think thats a lesson for all of us he addsOne name that we found to be a curious addition to Rajdeeps XI was Kohli whose story is far from complete and still in the making Here the author confesses he succumbed to market pressures because how do you write a book on Indian cricket without writing about its most upcoming icon But in a way Kohli symbolises the millennial star For my son and daughters generation Kohli is the hero of their age in a way that Gavaskar was for mine And I keep saying that Gavaskars batting reflected that era of preliberalisation which was an era where you had to live in selfdenial because you couldnt get all the facilities you have today Todays generation is in your face aggressive and an era of plenty I guess Kohli is a product of that he says ending I could never imagine Gavaskar with tattoos Its a reflection of our times