Sachin Tendulkar’s Bloody Book

Luxury book publishers are crossing new boundaries with the release of a $85,500 special edition autobiography of Sachin Tendulkar made with the batsman’s blood.

Reverence for the India Test star has always bordered on fanaticism, but this ‘blood edition’ is for only the most dedicated of fans, The Guardian reported.

The Tendulkar Opus includes unpublished family pictures and thoughts about his career, weighs 37kg, is half a metre square and stretches to 852 pages.

Only ten copies have been made and all are already pre-ordered.

Despite the cost and the size, it is the blood that will draw most attention and cause the most squirming.

“The signature page will be mixed with Sachin’s blood – mixed into the paper pulp so it’s a red resin. It is what it is – you will have Sachin’s blood on the page,” said publisher Kraken Media’s chief executive Karl Fowler.

“It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, it’s not to everyone’s taste and some may think it’s a bit weird. But the key thing here is that Sachin Tendulkar to millions of people is a religious icon. And we thought how, in a publishing form, can you get as close to your god as possible?”

As well as taking blood from Tendulkar they publisher also took a swab of the Indian’s saliva which was used to create his DNA profile. This will be printed on a two-metre gatefold inside the book.

“What you’ll be looking at is his genetic makeup,” said Fowler.

All proceeds from the sale of the 10 copies will go to Tendulkar’s charitable foundation to help build a school in Mumbai.

Kraken will also publish around 1000 copies of a cheaper edition of the autobiography at $2,200-$3,400.

Signed by Tendulkar, this edition will also be a half-metre square in size and will contain around 75% previously unpublished material about the cricketing star, as well as his DNA profile – but not his blood.

It is also releasing a $220-$340 smaller edition of the book.