HE calls himself orthodox and his hairdo buttresses that view. An Air India flight steward, Ajit Tendulkar denies the perception that he was a better cricket player than Sachin in his youth. Says he: "I would have, at least, played Ranji if that was the case.'' It took him five-and-a-half months to write the book and it meant skipping Sachin's exploits on the field during the period. "I have a heartbeat problem watching himplay,'' he says. There is also an upcoming Marathi version of the book, the translation by papa Ramesh Tendulkar. Incidentally, Sachin had a sneak preview of the book to ensure there was nothing personal in it. For Ajit, the biographical venture that ends just where Sachin's Test career begins to take off, is, his first and last.