14 Inspirational Autobiographies of Sportspersons That Tell You To Live Your Dreams

Autobiography is an account of a person's life written by that person, which holds all the information of that person, like how and where he or she grew up, the struggles they made to reach success, their relationships, and everything.

Life can’t be always harsh and tough for people who are dedicated and working hard to make their lives better. The struggle will be worth it at some point in your life, you dream big, you work hard for it with passion and true dedication and then you live big, see your struggle meeting to an end, living your dreams.

So basically autobiography books contain ups and downs of that person’s life and how he made it through it. In this article, we will speak of the top 14 very successful and popular sportspersons, who made their career in sports and left an inspiring story for every player which is hidden inside us people.

Here we begin with our list of autobiography books:

1. Playing It My Way, Sachin Tendulkar

This is the autobiography of legend and renowned personality in Cricket, Sachin Tendulkar. Sachin Tendulkar is an inspiration for many hearts, he played 23 years for India and then retired in 2013. This book has all the struggles, incidents, test series, awards he was awarded. He talks about everything related to his life in this book from his first test series to the 100th international century and then final farewell, which broke millions of hearts. If you are also a big fan of this legendary man, give it a read, you would not end up regretting it.

2. Straight From The Heart, Kapil Dev

As the title clearly says, straight from the heart, in this book Kapil Dev discusses his childhood days, his love life with Romi(his wife), his playing days, Golf and at the end, he talks about a very concerning topic, MATCH-FIXING issue. You may also feel reading like some of Yash Raj’s Bollywood script, especially when he talks about his marriage ceremony. The book is quick and easy to read if you are looking to read something inspirational, which is also light this book is perfect.

3. Unbreakable, Mary Kom

Mary Kom was born to parents who were landless agricultural labourers in Northeast Indian state, Manipur. Mary Kom’s journey is not just about making a career in sports, but facing the man dominant’s worlds, fighting up against all the odds and winning. This book will inspire you to the core of your heart, this is a story of a poor young rural girl, who had some dreams, which came true, she made them true, with dedication and hard work.

4. The Race of My Life, Milkha Singh

Milkha Singh popularly known as “The Flying Sikh” had faced a lot of struggle to get this title. A Bollywood movie was also made about his life to inspire the youth named “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag”, Milkha’s character was played by Farhan Akhtar. “The Race of My Life” is one such book to inspire youth, which tells us the story of a boy who survived during partition(but his family was not as lucky as him), later whose hard work and passion for running made him one of the brightest athletes of India.

5. Golden Girl, PT Usha

Golden Girl is about PT Usha, born in 1964, an iconic woman athlete, born in a poor family living in Payyoli, Calicut, Kerala. Usha did not have a privileged childhood and faced many health issues and much poverty. She had an incredible drive for sports and she was so fast that she was named after the “queen of Indian track and field”, a nickname for Payyoli express, the train.

6. Playing to Win, Saina Nehwal

“Being a player from India defines who I am. When I play it’s for my parents, my coach, and my country.” Says Saina Nehwal. In this memoir, she talks about her awards, her career, district level to Olympic level destination, ups and downs of her career, about her celebrated life and apart from just being inspired she also opens up about her likes and dislikes, relationship and family.

7. The Test of My Life, Yuvraj Singh

“The Test of My Life: From Cricket to Cancer and Back” is a very special book and honestly my favourite too. The book is the history of Yuvraj Singh’s life, regarding his career, ups and downs in his life, challenges he faced during struggle time and everything. The most intriguing thing about this memoir is, this is inspired in two ways, firstly, for making a career after going through all the challenges and then fighting against cancer all alone, in a different nation, Indianapolis, US.

8. Ace Against Odds, Sania Mirza

This bravo was ranked by the Women’s Tennis Association as India’s top player, both in singles and doubles. And this is not even a bit of her achievements. There's a whole lot of stories of awards, achievements, there is the story of a woman who beat incredible odds to get to the top of her sport. The most intriguing and extremely talented woman, Sania Mirza, Ace against Odds should be a must-read book on your list.

9. Sunny Days, Sunil Gavaskar

The memoir of growth astonishing accomplishment along with some funny incidents like almost breaking his mother’s nose, also sharing some school and college moments, all the test matches series records. The book is all about How did the story of Sunil Gawasakar begin? How did he become the legend of his lifetime? Fluently-written book, with brilliant writing skills.

10. The Greatest: My Own Story, Muhammad Ali

Nobody except him knew the story of his life, the way he survived each day but he was one dedicated man, who wanted to inspire fellow people to live up to their dreams. For six, he non-stop worked, travelled, and talked to Richard Durham, a stunning writer, and then the memoir resulted in a brilliant piece of art.

11. No Spin, Shane Warne

No spin was a dream project for Shane Warne, he had a long desire to tell this incredible story to everyone, to reach out to people. This book doesn't explain all the games in-depth or something, but it's a collection of thoughts on various incidents of his life. Very well written with journalist and cricket commentator Mark Nicholas was a great work.

12. 281 and Beyond, V.V. Laxman

The book gives a very detailed journey of Laxman’s cricket career from schooling to cricket career to retirement in 2013. Honestly speaking of the book, this is recommended for only those who are deeply interested in cricket and followed all the test series from the 1990s- 2013.

13. A Shot At History, Abhinav Bindra

The narrator of the story is Abhinav and written in the style as if he is directly talking to the reader. It's a very revealing autobiographical story, an inspirational journey, with a moving personal and emotional account of ups and downs. The story is more like going inside the olympian mind, readers find it to be a fascinating work.

14. Mind Master: Winning Lessons from a champion’s Life, Vishwanantham Anand

This book is believed to be one of the greatest memoirs of the times, giving insight into the mind of the game's greatest champion. This book is considered as the real revelation of all the kinds of emotions, happiness, and sorrow, and fighting at the absolute top. This book has moved people and helped them grow mentally, an ultimate sports-autobiography.

So these were the top 14 autobiography books of Indian sportspersons, revealing and exciting stories and incidents with an inspirational touch of their struggle time. These autobiography books are sure to give you motivation in tough times and help you get out of your struggles. There is nothing more inspiring than success stories of this sportsperson!

Pick up one of your favourite books from here and give it read to see whole new perspectives of life. I am pretty sure you will find what you are looking for!

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