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Australian captain Greg Chappell attempted to overthrow Rahul Dravid from t h e captaincy, threatened to remove Ganguly and Laxman from me team and aspired to "co n trol" Indjao cricket witl1 Tendulkar. Unfortunately, there was not much more to the chapter than what was already leaked to me press in advance by Tendulkat's wily PR team.

Indeed, while commentators such as Robert Craddock have absurdly suggested that Tendulkar's book reveals a ruthless political mastermind who pulled the strings of Indian cricket for two decades, it js widespread knowledge char Greg C happell comprehensively fai led to tmdersrancl the culture of cricket in India, espec ially the reverence with which the senior player s were held.

It is certainly in Ceres ting ro read about the confrontation between Tendulkar and the oldest of the Chappell trio, Ian Chappell. The exchange between the pair took pl ace in Durban in 2010, almost tlu-ee years after the debacle of me 2007 World Cup, following which Ian Chappell bad called for Tendulkar' s reti rement. After commenting favourably on Tendulkar's weight of recent runs, Chappell must have been surprised co hear Tendulkar tell him that he had "convenientl y changed bis stand", and that "critics like him change with the wind" \'<'hen tl1e conversation moved to h is younger brothe r, Tendulkar advised Ian tl1ar he did not want to share a dressing room with Greg Chappell again.

The declaration

Tendul kar devotes three full pages to explaining his anger and disappointment at Rahul Dtav id's declaration in Multan , 2006 , when Tenduikar was batting on 194*. He spares onl y a couple of lin es confirmi n g bis "camaraderie" with D rav icl Tendullrnr recow1ts his dressing-room conversations w ith coach John Wright, injured captain Sourav Gaoguly and team manager Ratnakar Shercy, during which each of tl1em conso led hjm, telling him the declaratio n was Drav id's alone

He also e),.--presses hi-s frustration witl1 San jay Manjrekar, who told Tendulkar that Drav id's dec ision was "brave" Sach.i.t1 retorted char Sanjay didn't know what he was talking about, and that hi s opinion was not appreciated.

T here is no doubt that Tendulkar and Dravid remain friends - however, it is clear that the i ncident did damage their relationship, and highligh t s cricket's frequent tendency to transcend friend s h ips.

Overwheliningly tho ugh , Tendulkar's autob iography is a missed opportunity to finall y shed some light on a number of deeper, more sign ificanr aspects of his experiences. What is i t like being rev ered l ike a religious figure? What are his thoughts on tl1e science of batting? \Vhat did h e make of rh e match - fixing scandals tl1at threatened co bring cricket to an encl in the 1990s?

U nfortunately, just as fans learned during tl1eir 25 -year love affair with the perennial bo y genius - Tendulkar a lways leaves you wanting more.