sachin Tendulkar looks at quitting ODIs cricket
By shaeen
@shaeen (413)
India
September 5, 2007 2:09pm CST
Home series against Australia, Pakistan likely to be his last
Sachin Tendulkar is seriously contemplating retiring from one-day cricket after India's home engagements against Pakistan and Australia later this season, it is reliably learnt.
Tendulkar, one-day cricket's most prolific and dominant batsman, will, however, continue playing Tests and will travel to Australia in December.
Sources close to Tendulkar said he was inclined to announce his retirement on this tour but was persuaded by friends to do so at home. India are scheduled to play seven ODIs against Australia and five against Pakistan before the end of the year.
Tendulkar had, along with Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, opted out of the forthcoming World Twenty20 in South Africa.
Earlier this week, he told The Times of the toll one-day cricket was taking on his body. "I enjoy every moment I have on a cricket field, but the recovery times between games these days are difficult, especially for one-day internationals, and that's my major obstacle," he said. "It does take its toll on the body. When you are 22 or 23, you recover a lot more quickly. But at 34, it's not so easy."
His innings at The Oval on Wednesday provided evidence of that; the last few minutes saw him hobbling with cramps, barely able to run the singles and, after his dismissal, taking a long time to climb the stairs to the dressing room.
Most of that innings, though, was spent in the kind of form he has displayed through this tour, one on which he showed he'd lost little of his formidability in one-day cricket. He began with two 90s against South Africa in Ireland, helping India win the series from being one down.
Restored to the top of the order after an indifferent World Cup where he batted in the middle order, Tendulkar has allowed himself the freedom to play the strokes of his majestic youth - the majestic cover drive, the pull and the lofted drive down the ground - and runs have flowed, both consistently and quickly.
In ten innings in the series so far, he has plundered 548 runs, with four 90s, at a strike rate of 84.3. The tour also reunited him with his opening partner Sourav Ganguly, and the pair, the most prolific in the history of one-day cricket, added four more century partnerships to take their tally to 25, 16 of them for the first wicket.
Tendulkar is 34 but already has 18 years of international cricket behind him; his 140 Tests and 394 ODIs have fetched him more than 25,000 runs, the most in international cricket.
He has before him the example of Shane Warne, who gave up one-day cricket in the last stage of his career to help him play more Tests.
courtsey
cricinfo
guys wht you think abt this article
3 people like this
10 responses
@coolmailraj (2460)
• India
5 Sep 07
Hi.
I think that it is right time for him to quit the ODIs. I have noted in the recent past that he has not been able to stretch his innings to the 130s and 125s. Earlier he used to carry on even after completing the century but now a days most of his big innings ends at 100s or 105s. Today it ws clear that he is not fully fit. I am not quite sure about his playing in the test matches but can surely say that he should quit the ODIs.
The article is really impressive.
@shaeen (413)
• India
6 Sep 07
Sachin Tendulkar has dismissed speculation about his retirement from one-day cricket, saying he was "batting brilliantly" at the moment and the thought of quitting had not even crossed his mind.
"The thought of retirement has not crossed my mind," Tendulkar told PTI. "I am still enjoying the game very much and want to play for as long as I can. Cricket means a lot to me."
Tendulkar's clarification sought to end speculation over his retiring from one-day cricket after India's home engagements against Pakistan and Australia later this season. Cricinfo had reported, quoting sources close to Tendulkar, that he was inclined to announce his retirement on this tour of England but had been persuaded by friends to do so at home.
Tendulkar, along with Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, had opted out of the ICC World Twenty20 and he had told The Times of the toll one-day cricket was taking on his body. "I enjoy every moment I have on a cricket field, but the recovery times between games these days are difficult, especially for one-day internationals, and that's my major obstacle," he said. "It does take its toll on the body. When you are 22 or 23, you recover a lot more quickly. But at 34, it's not so easy."
Tendulkar has been in excellent one-day form on the tour of the United Kingdom so far. In ten innings, he has plundered 548 runs, with four 90s, at a strike rate of 84.3. The tour also reunited him with his opening partner Sourav Ganguly, and the pair, the most prolific in the history of one-day cricket, added four more century partnerships to take their tally to 25, 16 of them for the first wicket.
1 person likes this
@vijay1wdv (357)
• India
6 Sep 07
hey
I watched the match yesterday when i was in my cousin's house and i saw what tendulkar was saying about the recovery time. He never told a word about retiring and i remember seeing a news channel which said sachin wont retire till the next world cup. So, let us hope for the best. Hope to see him in the next world cup too as a man of the series. He should retire only after getting India a world cup. That is the way legends quit.
@meetkamran (24)
• India
6 Sep 07
although sachin was the back bone of one day team..i think it can be smart move
because you should leave while being at the top ..its not a good experience if you leave ..like inzamam
concentrating on tests will make him more hungry for runs and then it can be a good thing for india team
2 people like this
@ssh123 (31073)
• India
6 Sep 07
May be he will continue to play for making records so that no one in future will be able to break it. He has been playing quite well and in yesterday's match he missed century by a few runs. If he continues to play, he may play for couple of years.
1 person likes this
@amitavroy (4819)
• India
6 Sep 07
in todays one day cricket apart from skills you need a lot of fitness beaucse you have to field well and also run a lot of singles as the overall fielding standards of all team has increased. and if he cannot recover in between the games then it is a very serious issue and he shodl think of quitting the one days, test is ok cause you have 5 days to play but not in one day and that is what is reflecting. he played well in both form but in one day he is feeling the [ressure.
@ajithlal (14716)
• India
6 Sep 07
I think Sachin can play another 5 more years. The players like Clive Llyod retired at age 40. I think Sachin should be rested well between the matches like he should be rested in between 2 to 3 matchs and players like Utthappa, Gambir, and Sehwag should be given chances. The good thing about this is that they will get equal chances and Sachin Tendulkar will get enough time for recovery and can increase his career. I really believe that he should not retire right now.
1 person likes this
@javamale (29)
• India
5 Sep 07
oh my god...... no sachin... dont quit odis.... ur playing ..so weel ... quit odd matches ..we want you till the next world cup.. hmmm iam a big fan of sachin tendulkar ..if you are not there ,.... iam sure lots of people ..will be dissapointed... hope so ...hedoesnt quit .. odis completely......play some odd matches.....