Star Gazing- The Players in My Life Ravi Shastri with Ayaz Memon

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From being Champion of Champions to one of the world's top cricket commentators to Team India's head coach, Ravi Shastri has an incomparable perspective when it comes to the game of cricket. In Stargazing: The Players in My Life, the legendary all-rounder looks back at the extraordinary talent he has encountered over the years.

Who, in Shastri's opinion, is the former Indian captain who didn't do full justice to his talent? Or the bruising bowler who went on to become a best friend? What was the most important lesson the legendary Clive Lloyd taught him? What did he want to tell M.S. Dhoni, but didn't, when the latter announced his decision to retire? How did Shastri set aside his personal bond with Virat Kohli in his role as coach?

Full of never-before-revealed anecdotes and insights, Stargazing, co-written with sports journalist Ayaz Memon and featuring illustrations by Shiva Rao, offers a glimpse into how illustrious champions from across the globe have inspired one of the world's greatest ODI players and Team India's most successful cricket coach.

As a young boy, the name Garfield Sobers resonated with me deeply. My mother introduced me to him by gifting me a book, Cricket Advance, which he had written. My father followed up with stories of his all-round prowess. Sobers's amazing record, his style, his commitment to hard work - it all seemed magical. What a role model for a budding cricketer!

Sobers, as I learned later, had worked as an errand boy at a furniture factory in Barbados at the age of fourteen. He had also played cricket, using whatever was at hand, whenever he could - and become the world's greatest all-rounder.

The impact of Sobers and his genius on me is incalculable. I could never reach the same heights in my career, of course. Nobody has, in my opinion. He remains (for me) the most versatile and compelling cricketer of all time. He was my earliest inspiration when I took to cricket almost half a century ago.

But he's not been the only one.

As I grew into the sport, several other players also made an impression on me. The number increased when I started playing at the first-class and international levels, and has continued to do so throughout my years as commentator and coach.

Any sport thrives on heroes and role models whom fans want to watch, and up-and-coming athletes want to emulate. Their achievements become benchmarks for subsequent generations and inspire them to aim higher, which in turn sustains or grows a sport.

For instance, no batsman has been able to better Don Bradman's amazing run-getting, or batting average yet. I doubt anyone ever will. But Bradman has been like a beacon for every aspiring batsman of every generation his own and since to imitate.