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Legendary tennis player Jaidip Mukerjea launched his autobiography at a function attended by some of the stalwarts of Indian tennis like Ramesh Krishnan and Somdev Devvarman, here on Friday. The book titled “Crosscourt” brings out the journey of Mukerjea, hailed as one of the best tennis players in the country.
“The book is a compilation of memories of a life well lived and gives an insight into the life of a globetrotting sporting icon. The the narration goes beyond tennis and delves into triumphs, disappointments, relationships and behind the scene moments, which the reader will feel captivating,” said his wife Sharmin, who was instrumental in making Jaidip Mukerjea write the autobiography.
The former Davis Cup captain while speaking about his book, recounted how he brought together two of the greatest tennis icons Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi to partner as one of the most successful tennis pairs, Mukerjea said it was a gamble that worked well. “We had a Davis Cup training camp in Kolkata. Mahesh was beating everyone and I had him included in the team. Zeeshan Ali was also in the team and was also higher ranked. But I put Mahesh instead of Zeeshan alongside
Leander as a team. I took a gamble. All hell broke loose as everyone including R.K. Khanna (former president of AITA) asked if I was doing the right thing. That’s how the journey of ‘Indian Express’ started. I am sure if they had played a little more together, they would have won more Grand Slams,” Mukerjea said about the pair who won three Grand Slam doubles titles as a pair.
Speaking on the occasion Ramesh Krishnan said that he is hopeful that Indian tennis will start moving again. “A lot of damage has happened to Indian tennis because of the pandemic but we can hope now it starts moving again,” Krishnan said. “The quality of tournaments has come down in India as a lot of competitions moved to Europe after the pandemic. We hope things turn back from here,” he added.
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