Ravi Shastri: Sachin Tendulkar will not retire soon, you will see him at Lord's next year

Ravi Shastri feels Tendulkar will not retire until next year

Recently, there has been intense speculation that Sachin Tendulkar, 40, might retire after completing the landmark of 200 Test matches, especially after BCCI arranged two-Test series against West Indies at home, thus shortening the South Africa tour.

But according to Ravi Shastri, who was once a team-mate of the India batsman, and is considered being close to Tendulkar personally, rubbished the speculation that the veteran batsman, who has played over 25 years of international cricket, will quit the game after playing his 200th Test at home – preferably Mumbai.

“He (Tendulkar) will not quit the game so soon as you all keep saying. He would continue to play, and you will see him at Lord’s next year too,” said the 51-year-old Shastri to a question after he delivered the Dilip Sardesai Memorial Lecture at the Bombay Gymkhana, reports NDTV.

The former left-arm spinner blamed communication gap between the two concerned cricket boards for the shortening of the South Africa tour after the BCCI effectively changed India’s scheduled visit to South Africa later this year by inviting West Indies for a short series at home.

“The problem was in communication, but there will be some cricket played (by India) in South Africa,” said the cricketer-turned-commentator.

As per the ICC’s Future Tours Programme, India were scheduled to tour South Africa from November, but with the series against West Indies, which consists of a warm-up three-day game followed by two Test matches and three ODIs during the festive season, meant team’s visit to the world no.1 Test side is unlikely to begin until December.