Should Sachin Tendulkar Retire From ODI Cricket?

Tendulkar’s poor run of form in the current CB series in Australia has sparked off a debate, with several former players joining in the discussion. While those like Kapil Dev have been vocal in insisting that the master blaster is past his sell-by date, in the limited overs form of the game, others like Dilip Vengsarkar have been equally insistent that the master blaster must be allowed to choose the time of his leaving.

Ravi Shastri has been another one of Tendulkar’s vocal supporters, even going so far as to suggest that the Mumbai batsman was likely to feature in the 2015 ODI World Cup. Tendulkar’s form during the 2011 World Cup was brilliant and his tally of 492 runs in the tournament was second only to that of Sri Lanka’s Dilshan who scored 500 runs. But that was almost a year ago. During the interim, much media focus has been cast on Tendulkar’s much-awaited 100th international ton. The fact that the three-figure mark has eluded him after Tendulkar ‘s 99th ton against South Africa, in March 2011, has added pressure.

Adding to this controversy are rumours of a rift in the Indian team, with the team management’s rotation policy said to be a bone of contention. During this series, only two of Sehwag, Tendulkar and Gambhir have been selected to play in any game. Sunil Gavaskar has dismissed the rotation policy as a disgrace, in his newspaper column; Tony Grieg has supported Gavaskar.

Dhoni has added fuel to the fire with his statement that the seniors are poor fielders and playing all three together cost the team 20 additional runs in the field. This is the first time Dhoni has spoken against Sehwag or Tendulkar. Dhoni has not shied away from speaking his mind in the past, as for instance, when he had Saurav Ganguly axed from the team, citing his poor fielding and running between the wickets.

About Sachin Tendulkar, Kapil Dev has said that the master batsman should have announced his retirement from ODI cricket, immediately after the World Cup was over. Dilip Vengsarkar, on the other hand, has cited the lack of bench strength in the Indian team as a justification for Tendulkar’s continued presence in the team. There are still others who feel the absence of good bench strength is itself a result of the refusal by the selectors to drop aging players thereby resulting in youngsters not getting international experience.

Coming back to the original question, should Tendulkar retire from ODI cricket? Interestingly, Gavaskar has said that the selectors should counsel Tendulkar, even as his Mumbai counterparts like Vengsarkar and Shastri have stated that the decision of when he should retire should be left to Tendulkar himself.

We invite readers to give us their opinions.

Tags: Australia, Dhoni, Gavaskar, India, Result, Sachin, Sachin Tendulkar, Sehwag, South Africa

Category: Australia tour, Cricket, Hot Controversy