Why Sachin Tendulkar Should Not Retire Now

Amidst the cacophony of diverse voices baying for the blood of Sachin Tendulkar, this writer, a self-confessed emotional fan of the great man, would point out some facts by which he would like to tell why this is the not the right time for Sachin to announce his retirement. When the instinctive Tendulkar-bashers and the so called pundits of the game are burning the midnight oil to come up with logical points to prove why Tendulkar should retire now, this writer would try to counter them with his own style of reasoning, which is an assortment of logic as well as emotion - without some emotional discourse, what is an Indian? 

First things first. One of the main arguments that the pundits put forward to say that it is high time for Tendulkar be asked to retire by the selectors is the fundamental philosophy that no one is bigger than the game. Now, let us face it, let us face the truth – Sachin Tendulkar is bigger than the game, period. The popularity of the game soared to magnificent proportions in India during the 90s only because of the great man Sachin Tendulkar. People flocked to the cricket stadium not to watch the game, but to the see the young prodigy at work; they left the stadium en masse the moment he got out. For a generation of Indians, including this writer, he has been a role model, a symbol of courage, dignity, hard work, perseverance, righteousness and an embodiment of a never-say-die attitude. For them he has been the living model of an emerging India after the opening up of the economy to global competition, confident and brave, competing in the global stage to make a name of itself. When he scored runs, the whole country rejoiced, when he got out cheaply, the whole country despaired. Millions of poor people in the country found a little redemption from their sufferings when the Little Master scored hundreds. When he scored runs against the English, people felt centuries of British domination of India is getting avenged, when he scored runs against Pakistan, Indians felt he is fighting a brave battle against the arch rivals for all of us. When his father passed away during the 1999 World Cup, the whole country mourned and when he got back to the team and hit a century few days after his bereavement all his countrymen praised the strength of human spirit that he showed. It is not a matter of ignominy, but a matter of human triumph that a mere mortal became bigger than the world that made him. And it is not the first time in the history of mankind that someone became bigger than his/her field of activity. Indian politics did not define Mahatma Gandhi, he defined Indian politics; pop music did not define Michael Jackson, the ‘King of Pope’ defined pop music; English drama did not define William Shakespeare, the great playwright defined English drama. 

The Indian team is going through a transition phase after the retirement of the greats Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. This is the time that the youngsters in the team need someone who can groom them and this makes it extremely important that Tendulkar remain in the team. If the detractors of the man come with an argument that he is not scoring runs and in such a circumstance how sensible it would be to retain him in the team, it must be noted that no one in the current Indian team is scoring consistent runs. Sehwag, Gambhir, Kohli, Yuvraj, Dhoni have all scored cheaply in the current series. 

It is again not that lot of great talents in the domestic circuit are knocking the doors of the Indian team to get in and take the place of Tendulkar. Names of Ajinkya Rahane, Subramaniam Badrinath, Mohd. Kaif, Manoj Tiwary, and Suresh Raina are going the rounds as the probables for replacing Tendulkar. All these players have got chances to play international cricket, but none has shown strong batting technique while playing against international bowlers, not to talk about about foreign match conditions. So it is not that there is a long queue of prodigious talents waiting for their entry in to the Indian team prevented only by the presence of Tendulkar in the team. 

Sachin Tendulkar still puts more efforts in constantly improving his batting skills and in rectifying technical glitches than any other of his teammates. It shows the commitment of the man and his determination. Even the great Sunil Gavaskar didn’t put a lot of effort in practice sessions during the fag end of his career. If about age being a factor, 37 test centuries in total have been made by 17 batsmen after they passed the age of 40. Englishman Jack Hobbs made 8 of them after he passed the age of 40 and he is also the oldest to make a test century at the age of 46 years and 82 days. So there are batsmen in the world who have defied age and hit test hundreds, notwithstanding the talks about reflexes getting poorer as you get older.

The retirement of the great Ricky Ponting, a contemporary of Sachin Tendulkar, has come as a shot in the arm for all those who call for the retirement of the great man. But one must note that the condition of the present Australian team is completely different from the condition of the present Indian team. Though the Aussies lost their recent test series against the Proteas, they are still a strong batting side. Michael Clarke is at his topmost form and is making lot of runs at will (this calendar year Clarke scored four double hundreds, a first time in the history of the game, even Sir Don had hit only three double hundreds in a calendar year), Michael Hussey, as always, is rock solid in that middle order, David Warner and Ed Cowan are good opening batsmen, Shane Watson is a brilliant all-rounder, already being compared to the great Jacques Kallis and the new comer in the team, keeper-batsman Mathew Wade has already shown he is not any bad with the bat. So the retirement of Ponting is not a serious setback for the Australians, but only a matter of natural transition. Therefore a comparison of Ponting retirement with Tendulkar’s is not correct in any way. 

At a time when the Indian cricket ship is sinking at a fast pace it is not 'Tendulkar-like' to jump off it, escape and look to save only his life. Many times the great man has single-handedly carried the whole weight of the team, like Atlas carried the earth on his broad shoulders, and rescued the team from many an ominous situation. The great Sachin Tendulkar has been a fighter, many times a lone fighter for his country, and one can hardly find him retiring now with this team in big trouble, unless of course he is forced to make such a decision by the team selectors who might humbly ask him to do it after convincing him that it is good for the team. And he always did what is good for the team, didn’t he?

Courtesy: Mohandas Menon for the statistics, the busy statistician found time to reply to this writer’s request in Twitter

Image Courtesy: PTI