Sachin Tendulkar explains why he avoided topic of match-fixing in his autobiography
Sachin Tendulkar, in his autobiography, Playing it My Way, judging by the excerpts, has been extremely honest about his 24-year international career and talked about many issues that he chose to remain silent on during his playing career. He has, however, chosen to keep mum on the match-fixing saga of 2000, which was the darkest phase in Indian cricket history, saying that he consciously skirted the issue as it would have been inappropriate to comment on matters he was not fully aware of.
Speaking to a select group of journalists ahead of the worldwide launch of his much-anticipated autobiography, Tendulkar clarified as to why he did not talk in detail about the match-fixing controversy, where the likes of Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja were some of the prominent figures implicated, during which he was very much a part of the Indian dressing room.
"I think whatever things I knew 100 per cent I have revealed because I back up those things. But the things I am not aware of fully, it would be unwise to comment on those," Tendulkar said.
"I should have some evidence, I should know something in detail to talk about it because then it makes sense and it will be appreciated by people. But if I just start talking then it will not have any value," he added.
When asked whether he had a suspicion that certain players were deliberately underperforming during that phase, Tendulkar said it was difficult to determine considering the fact that failures are a part and parcel of every sportsman’s life.
"No, I mean the guys fail, but who doesn't fail in life, everyone fails. It would be unfair to just pinpoint at someone and say that he was under-performing, didn't try his best, I can't. I have played the sport for 24 years and failures do happen," he explained.
Unwise to talk on issues without knowing
There was a perception during the Mumbaikar’s 24-year long international career that he was never willing to take a stand on major issues, but the former Indian captain feels that such a perception is unfair.
"If you see in my book, issues on which people believed I should have taken a stand, the only things which I was 100 per cent sure of I stood for that in my book," he said.
"If you have read some of the articles I have expressed myself whole-heartedly but on things which were not first-hand information, it is unwise to do that, it is (like) a loose statement and I didn't want to fire loose statements," he added.