Sachin Tendulkar, the legend of Indian cricket has announced his retirement from one day international matches, bringing to a culmination an incredible twenty three year old career, during which he broke numerous batting records. The question which remains is was he forced to make this decision due to the chances of him being dropped from the upcoming Pakistan series? Because a few days back it was reported that Sachin was keen to play the Pakistan series.
The thirty nine year old cricketer was quoted by the BCCI saying, “I have decided to retire from the one-day format of the game. I feel blessed to have fulfilled the dream of being part of a World Cup wining Indian team. The preparatory process to defend the World Cup in 2015 should begin early and in right earnest”.
Sachin showed interest in playing the ODI’s against Pakistan and England and the selectors supported his decision too. Tendulkar, who has not played many ODI’s since India’s World Cup victory, wanted to play in the ODI’s to regain his form before the challenging test series against Australia in Feburary/March next year.
Tendulkar’s performance in the last series was pretty weak and he made only 18.4 runs on an average which could have influenced Sachin’s decision to retire from ODI’s.
Sachin has wished the Indian team good luck post his departure and is grateful for their support and encouragement through the years.
Many are also speculating whether Sachin’s departure will dilute his brand value? Since his form has fallen in the past few months, many big brands have dropped Sachin, or have reduced the number of TV ads in which he appears. Brands like Coca Cola do not use Sachin as a Youth Icon anymore, but as a Happiness Ambassador. Other popular brands such as Adidas and Aliva took his ads off the air and Canon has not renewed their contract with him, which may be a sign that the time has come for Sachin to lay down his bat.
Not disturbed by all these speculations, the Master Blaster has set off to Mussoorie with his family to celebrate Christmas and New Year. Here’s hoping we still get to see more of Tendulkar on the cricket field, as it is difficult to imagine cricket without Sachin!
!@#$%
Related Information:
