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The trouble with calling @cricketaakash for a podcast is that you have only a limited time to listen to his musings.
Full of wisdom and honesty - as one would expect from the man who wrote 'Beyond the Blues'
Please listen http://www.81allout.com/it-takes-time-to-understand-what-makes-you-tick-aakash-chopra/
Full of wisdom and honesty - as one would expect from the man who wrote 'Beyond the Blues'
Please listen http://www.81allout.com/it-takes-time-to-understand-what-makes-you-tick-aakash-chopra/
And talking about Beyond the Blues - let me tell you a story.
I met Aakash on August 31, 2007. I remember the date because I was covering an England v India ODI at Old Trafford. Aakash was playing a season of club cricket in England and was watching the match from the stands
I met Aakash on August 31, 2007. I remember the date because I was covering an England v India ODI at Old Trafford. Aakash was playing a season of club cricket in England and was watching the match from the stands
We chatted for half an hour or so. He said he has been reading a lot of late and mentioned a four-part series on Julius Caeser that he had got through.
I asked him if he had thought of writing a book. He had already made a name for himself as a columnist for HT and Cricinfo...
I asked him if he had thought of writing a book. He had already made a name for himself as a columnist for HT and Cricinfo...
His perceptive observations and lucid style made him an obvious candidate to write something substantial.
He wasn’t sure if he was ready. And I remember one thing he said: ‘when I write a book I want it to be a really good one’.
He wasn’t sure if he was ready. And I remember one thing he said: ‘when I write a book I want it to be a really good one’.
Soon, Aakash started to maintain a diary. I suggested he read ‘It Never Rains’ by Peter Roebuck and ‘On and Off the Field’ by Ed Smith. Later that year, I handed him a copy of Ed Smith’s book and, half-jokingly said Ed had made it to the England team the year he kept the diary..
Aakash continued to jot down his thoughts through the Ranji Trophy season in 2007-08. Delhi won the Ranji title, North Zone won the Duleep Trophy and Aakash scored over 1,000 first-class runs.
And he came really close to returning to the Indian team....
And he came really close to returning to the Indian team....
His jottings turned into his first book ‘Beyond the Blues’. It is one of the finest books written by an active cricketer anywhere. Such an honest account that you have to re-read bits again, to make sure that a fc cricketer – hoping to return to the Indian team – wrote this...
It is perhaps the last chance any Indian cricketer could be so candid about how the game was run in this country, and I am so glad Aakash wrote it.
He has written two more books (and will no doubt write many more) but none may match Beyond the Blues for sheer honesty...
He has written two more books (and will no doubt write many more) but none may match Beyond the Blues for sheer honesty...
Read the book if you haven't. It doesn't get mentioned often in discussions around cricket books but few pages into it and you will realize why it deserves all the praise...
(End of my thread)
(End of my thread)
