For those who munch cricket in this country, Ravi Chaturvedi is an icon. As a cricket commentator when all the entertainment and heartbreak and masala were derived from the pitch and the field around it, Chaturvedi was the Sanjay to a nationful of Dhritharashtras.
In his latest avatar, Chaturvedi comes out of the commentary box and steps away from the microphone to take up the pen in Legendary Indian Cricketers: Men, Moments and Memories (Ocean Books/ONGC, Rs 500) where he mixes the fetish of a lifetime collector with the passion of a cricket nut.
The result is a personalised gem of a history book where the characters and moments are bound by bat, ball and personalities straight from the pitch.
From Ranjitsinhji and Vinoo Mankad, to Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, we can hear Chaturvedi tell us the legends about these legends.