Cricket lovers across the globe woke up to the news of retirement of one of Australia’s greatest cricketers, Ricky Ponting. But little did Punter know that his announcement would put the limelight on one of India’s greatest cricketers, Sachin Tendulkar. Social networking websites were abuzz with status updates and posts, SMSes and emails circulated at a pace that would make even the legends cringe! All debating just one point: Should Sachin hang up his boots? City Express spoke to cricket fans in mana city to find out if they want the out of form run machine to call it a day. Guess what, many want him to just keep playing for a variety of reasons. Sample this: Whom will we watch if he doesn’t play?? What is the thrill? Even the sight of the castling of his wickets, it seems, is better than a line up without him!!
“Hell no! He knows what to do and when to do. No one has the caliber enough to tell him what to do with his game. He is way above the brightest cricket brains the world has ever produced. We need to leave him alone,” pontificates Vikas Borwankar, a cricket fan, a Sachin follower and a software employee with JP Morgan Chase. Agreeing with him Aditya KV, another cricket enthusiast, opines, “People like Sachin deserve to choose when to retire. He cannot be blamed for the dismal performance of the Indian team. He is the God and God decides fate, no one else!!”
While Sudeep D’Souza, a corporate official, says that BCCI and Sachin should sit and decide when the time is right for him to make the announcement, and also make it memorable. “I think Sachin should decide for himself when he should retire. He has given a lot for Indian cricket and that is the courtesy that we should give a master. I think the Board and Sachin can figure out when it is time for him to retire in a manner that is fitting for a once in a lifetime.”
Disagreeing with the whole need for a debate about Tendulkar’s retirment because of Ponting’s announcement, Arun Srivatsan, a Hyderabadi, who is now a Project Officer at IIT, says, “Well, I think these two are decoupled as far as Sachin is concerned. He will indeed retire soon. But I don’t think he would do that because of punter alone. Of course, critics will speak a lot and will keep feeding him ideas. I think Sachin is still there to get that one 100 to get 50 centuries in both ODIs and Tests. He didn’t react when Dravid or anybody else retired. I don’t think this incident alone would have much of an impact.” He then goes on, “Considering the other side of the fence, remember, what happened to Kapil Dev ? He lost his form, his penetration totally and finally, was more of a burden to the team for close to eight months. People could not throw him out as he was the winning captain of the World Cup 1983. When he announced retirement, people were actually happy! But when Gavaskar retired, people were shocked as he was at his peak. I think if you are a gentleman, you hang up your boots when you are at your peak. What happened to VVS was sad though. If I was Sachin, I would give my fans one last chance to watch me play when I am still in my best form.”
From a humorous point of view, Deepak Karamungikar, who works with the editorial team at the T.I.M.E Institute says, “We live in a country where BCCI selector is the most popular alternative career option. I’d say only those who can divide by zero can go ahead and comment on Sachin’s retirement.”