An era comes to an end, as Sachin announces retirement from ODI’s
Mumbai: Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar, on Sunday retired from one-day internationals, bringing the curtains down on a glorious career spanning 23 years.
The 39-year-old Tendulkar conveyed his decision to the BCCI, which issued a statement on his behalf to make the announcement. The champion batsman will, however, continue to play in Tests.
Tendulkar, considered the most complete batsman in modern cricket, retires from the ODI format at the top of the run-getters’ list.
Tendulkar’s decision to quit the ODI format came on the day when the ODI team for the series against Pakistan was announced. There was speculation that he would play in the series to regain form ahead of the Test series against Australia. Of late, the batting great had been under intense pressure to take a call on his future following a prolonged form slump, particularly in the Test series against England where he averaged a poor 18.66.
The Mumbaikar, who made himself unavailable for Twenty20s after playing just one game in 2006, will now remain active in only the Test arena.
The brightest moment of his ODI career came last year when he finally became part of a World Cup winning Indian team after five previous appearances.
Despite the recent slump in his form, Tendulkar’s overall tally of runs is unlikely to be matched anytime soon given that the distant second-best in the list, former Australian captain Ricky Ponting, has already retired with 13,704 runs under his belt.
Sri Lanka’s retired great Sanath Jayasuriya occupies the third spot in the overall chart with 13,430 runs.
Besides his batting, Tendulkar also did service as an effective partnership-breaking bowler before a shoulder injury limited him and would be finishing his ODI career with 154 scalps, including two five-wicket hauls.
