Staff Writer – Archi
India’s recent defeat to England in the four-match Tet series at home has opened up a pandora’s box with crictics calling for skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s head. Most of them found Dhoni unimaginative on the field as he also failed to lead from the front.
However, the other person to come under the scanner was none other than the great Sachin Tendulkar. Except for a fighting 76 in the third Test at the Eden Gardens, the Little Master has failed miserably averaging just 18.66 in six innings in the Test series against England.
On the last day of the last Test match at Nagpur, the rumour mills worked overtime predicting Tendulkar’s exit from the game, but nothing such ultimately happened. While there were a number of ex-cricketers who advised Tendulkar to call it a day, there were some who still backed the batting great.
West Indian cricket legend Viv Richards was one who came in Tendulkar’s support, saying the senior Indian batsman is the best person to decide on his retirement and should continue as long as he wants.
“Nobody is qualified enough to tell him (Tendulkar) when they think he should go,” Richards said.
“When you’re retired, you’re retired for a very, very long time. It’s like being dead to some degree, so while you’re alive and still up for it and still enjoying what you’re doing, to me that’s what it’s all about,” the former West Indian great said.
However, Tendulkar’s former team mate Rahul Dravid asked him to take a dispassionate introspection.
Sachin and Sir Viv. Photo courtesy thehindu.com
“He’ been a huge servant of the game and been fantastic for Indian cricket. He is a great player and this period has been difficult for him. He is a proud man and this would have hurt him. The thing is, people need to have a conversation with him and see what’s his state of mind, what he’s thinking and what his plans are.
“After that conversation, he himself will have to think about a few things because I’m not sure there are many people who can take the decisions regarding Tendulkar,” he said.
“…if he truly believes that, ‘Yes, I can be around when India makes these foreign trips, if I can be around in South Africa, New Zealand, England, playing at my best,’ then I think it makes sense for him to back himself and fight it out.”
While the whole cricketing world fights over the great player’s future, it is ultimately the man himself who will have to decide on that. And only time will give us his final call.
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