VVS Laxman’s 281 & Beyond is an honest account of his illustrious cricketing journey. His biography gives one a clear understanding & appreciation of what it took for VVS to reach the top of the sport, and the trials & tribulations that he had to go through in the arduous journey to the top. VVS also shares deep insights on some of his star fellow players’ work styles and work ethics, and what it takes to truly be a winner both on and off the cricket field. The book is written in an honest, down to earth style - VVS personified & gives lots of nuggets of wisdom from the cricketing field that can be applied in one's personal & professional life. Pl find attached the slides that has some nuggets that I liked & learnt (from just the first 30 pages of the book) that I wanted to share. Hope these resonate with you as well. Best wishes.

2.  BOOK SUMMARY – FIRST FEW PAGES OF VVS
LAXMAN’S 281 & BEYOND

3.  I have always enjoyed my battle with the
Aussies . The attacking fields that they
set gave me additional scoring
opportunities and I loved that the extra
pace allowed the ball to come on to my
bat and speed off it much quicker.

4.  I have always been the kind of person
who sees the glass as half full rather than
half empty.

5.  The team man that Rahul is , not for one
moment did he make obvious his
displeasure at moving out of the No.3
position. That was Rahul’s trademark
throughout his career. He was ready to
do whatever the team asked of him.

6.  It is two against eleven in the middle and
the two batsmen must be on the same
page. You must look after not only your
own self but also the partnership . That’s
what happened with Rahul & me.

7.  In the hot, humid afternoon at the Eden,
Rahul was quickly in my ear when he
noticed that my concentration was
flagging, reminding me that the job was
far from finished, that I couldn’t relax for
even a second. ‘Job not done’ was to
become the most quoted phrase during
our long alliance.

8.  And so we carried on, two friends
breaking things down to 10-over periods,
setting small goals and never, ever
looking at the scoreboard.

9.  The actual challenge lay in the execution
of the gameplan , and I was fortunate that
my body & mind were in such good sync
that it was possible to play exactly the
way that I had visualized it.

10.  Since I was in such great touch from the
domestic season, I decided to take the
fight to Warney. I had made up my mind
to attack him even before the series
started.

11.  Being in the Zone applies not only to
sportspeople but also to all professionals.
You are almost enveloped by this other-
wordly feeling , floating outside of
yourself even as you are going about
your business . It is that rare dream-like
phase when as a batsman, the ball goes
where you want it to go.

12.  I had walked off the park immensely
satisfied. I hadn’t missed out on 300 by
19 runs, I had made 281 in a crisis , with
our backs to the wall, and put the team in
a position from where we could expect to
pull off a win against all odds. Isnt that
what you play the game for?

13.  Sachin responded with unbridled joy
when the captain threw him the ball when
things weren’t going our way. Invariably
he delivered, and he celebrated with such
gusto that it instantly transported you to
the time when you played the game the
way it should be played – for sheer
enjoyment.

14.  Cricket is a game of bat & ball, with skills
paramount, but it is also a game that is
played between the ears. The more
relaxed and focused you are, the better
are your chances of succeeding.

15.  There is a very fine line between being
focused and being obsessed. The former
entails attention to detail during
preparation, reading the pitch and the
opposition bowling, being ready for any
eventuality. The latter is all-consuming
and takes your mind away from the larger
picture, from the process, as it were.

16.  If all you are thinking about is the
outcome, the process gets skewed.
That’s a lesson I learnt very early in life
and it was a lesson that was to serve me
well as my career gathered steam.

17.  It is quite easy to get carried away by the
hype & adulation. It becomes imperative to
find that happy space within your head
where you derive inspiration from the
encouragement of the fans, but don’t start
believing that you are invincible. It is not an
easy balance to strike. And that is where
Sachin stood heads & shoulders above the
rest.

18.  Among the many things I admired and
envied about Sachin was his single-
mindedness of purpose , his unwavering
concentration, his ability to shut out
everything but the immediate task at
hand. Its no accident that he stacked up
the numbers he did.

19.  Through experience and a temperament
that allowed me to treat success & failure
with equanimity , I figured out what
worked for me and what didn’t.

20.  Enjoy your friends’ happiness, your
teammates’ success, as if it’s your own.

21.  The Bhagavad Gita has been a strong
source of inspiration & learning throughout
my life. Chapter 12, Bhakti Yoga , speaks of
among other things , giving one’s best every
single time and not worrying about the
results; remaining equanimous in victory &
defeat, in success & failure. I took these
principles to heart from when I was 17.

22.  The only way I could influence my
selection was by scoring runs- lots and
lots of them. But that was not in my
control, because there was no guarantee
that I would score runs, no matter how
talented I was. The only thing in my
control was the effort, the commitment,
the hardwork, the dedication.

23.  As I grew older, I realized that the origins
of many of today’s success mantras lie in
the scriptures. The results take care of
themselves if you do the Processes right.

24.  My outlook should not be shaped by runs
or the lack of them. I understood that one
big score wouldn’t make me a different
person overnight, or a failure make me a
lesser person. There are great lessons to
learn from success, and bigger ones to
imbibe when it eludes you.

25.  When I called up my parents everyday
from wherever I was, not to talk about
cricket but to take their blessings. Before
we hung up, they would ask me to repeat
one mantra: ”I am first”. The first referred
not so much to where one finished , but the
preparations to get there. They were keen
that I should be No.1 when it came to
effort.