Sachin's Tendulkar's retirement...An unmatched furore!
I am touching a topic probably every person in india has an opinion on...right from a schoolkid to a retired grandpa...When should Sachin Tendulkar retire?To be honest, I find this question itself baffling..We are talking about when a person who has scaled everything there is to achieve as a batsman, both for Team India and personally (people argue on this one a lot,more to come in the subsequent paras), and when he should retire from a profession he has mastered and taken to a level where it is not a game...it is an art...In all fairness, did Sachin Tendulkar ask any of us how to play a straight drive?Or for that matter score a hundred?Or how to shoulder expectation of a billion crazy fans?Then why should our opinions matter when it comes to his retirement!That too when he is as good form as he was some years ago.Is 39 biting people so much that the minute he does not perform up to HIS mark (I say HIS mark because he set benchmarks for others to follow..even his average form is much batter than most others' peak) critics raise their knives and ask him to retire?
By the way critics asking him to retire has its own history...At 34 when he had a tennis elbow, people called for him to retire...he silenced critics by averaging 55 in the subsequent 2 years...Greg Chappell happens...people ask him to retire...he again proved them wrong by beating HIS OWN average for the next 2 years..Hell he has averaged 50 in ODIs in the past 5 years!How many batsmen average that much in ODI's!Talking about playing at his will..guys be fair...when you did not complain when he scored all those tonnes...why complain when he does not score a ton but still plays better than most others in the team?Isnt it about performing for India?Has he been any less there?
Talking of personal milestones...critics have their own say here as well...they say he plays for his own records...guys give it a break...did he ever ask anyone to count his 100 tonnes?We keep these things in mind because they are glorified by the media...hell if you consider the number of 90's he has scored from 2007, he is way past the 100 tonnes anyways(He has 17 90+ scores in ODI's in his career)!Does that 3 figure score matter so much that his 90's are less valuable to the team's cause?Again, if he scores that 100th 100 people say he plays for his own records...if he does not, people call him out of form (by the way a 70 or an 80 for the team is by no means out of form)...Again people fail to appreciate that 100 international tonnes is something no one might possibly ever achieve!Today people who raise their swords to ask for Sachin's head, I have a question...Just because he set a benchmark...does that mean you benchmark him against himself?Is that fair?
Talking of age...how many cricketers of ages lesser than him sprint for the second run on the field?He still has the best work ethic in the team...We did not give respect to Saurav Ganguly or Rahul Dravid...this is the least we owe to the last standing stalwart of the past 2 decades of Indian cricket...let him decide when to retire...If he has a few more years of joy to Share with India...enjoy the legend instead of blaming him...after all...the whole nation will celebrate the day he gets his personal milestone of 100 tonnes (That day it wont matter that he gor a personal milestone...right?)..In the process...look at his performances....As they always say...applaud or criticize the performance...not the performer...Till the next tonne from Sachin to as usual silence his critics... :):)
