Why I strongly believe (factually) Sachin Tendulkar should not retire
The Don of our time
“The entire nation has gone crazy and wants Sachin to retire. People are mad as they don’t see the point. There are other players on the team who have not been scoring runs, but no, they are after Sachin.”
I was surprised to hear this coming from my father who has been the harshest critic of Sachin in his life whenever he failed in an innings. When I thought about it, it made me realize, during all those times in the past, he criticized Sachin because he liked him; all he wanted was Sachin to do better just like the entire nation wanted him to score runs. And today in the times when Sachin wants his fans to support him, he is right there supporting the champion batsman.
His statement made the analyst in me go and search for the truth. And what I found was completely surprising and astonishing.
Here is the look at his record in the Test matches:
| Overall Stats* | Player | C Pujara | V Kohli | V Sehwag | MS Dhoni | Yuvraj Singh | SR Tendulkar | G Gambhir | SK Raina |
| 1 year | Matches | 4 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 2 |
| Runs | 604 | 571 | 507 | 325 | 82 | 379 | 353 | 58 | |
| Average | 120.8 | 43.92 | 33.8 | 32.5 | 27.33 | 27.07 | 25.21 | 19.33 | |
| Rank | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |
| 2 year | Matches | 6 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 5 | 18 | 16 | 10 |
| Runs | 635 | 762 | 937 | 986 | 218 | 1196 | 892 | 401 | |
| Average | 79.37 | 38.1 | 31.23 | 31.8 | 27.25 | 38.58 | 30.75 | 22.27 | |
| Rank | 1 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 8 | |
| 3 year | Matches | 7 | 12 | 29 | 32 | 25 | 31 | 25 | 17 |
| Runs | 711 | 762 | 2532 | 1656 | 1331 | 2645 | 1331 | 768 | |
| Average | 71.1 | 38.1 | 50.64 | 36.8 | 30.95 | 53.97 | 30.95 | 28.44 | |
| Rank | 1 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 8 | |
| 5 year | Matches | 7 | 12 | 48 | 50 | 20 | 51 | 39 | 17 |
| Runs | 711 | 762 | 4332 | 2656 | 1027 | 4355 | 3200 | 768 | |
| Average | 71.1 | 38.1 | 51.57 | 37.94 | 35.41 | 53.76 | 46.37 | 28.44 | |
| Rank | 1 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 8 | |
| Indian Cricketers Ranking ( Based on Average) | ||||
| Name | 1 year | 2 year | 3 year | 5 year |
| CA Pujara | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| V Kohli | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| V Sehwag | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 |
| MS Dhoni | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Yuvraj Singh | 5 | 7 | 6 | 7 |
| SR Tendulkar | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| G Gambhir | 7 | 6 | 6 | 4 |
| SK Raina | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
If you closely look at these stats, one can see that Sachin Tendulkar has been the best Test cricketer for India in the past 2, 3, 5-year span. Cheteshwar Pujara is no doubt a very talented player, but I doubt that in the long run he can sustain the average of 71.1. Sachin Tendulkar has always had the best average in the last 2 years, 3 years and 5 years. Never mind the current players, not even the retired ones had a better average than the Master Blaster in these categories (except once, Rahul Dravid had an average of 44.83 in the last 2 years category.)
We still talk about Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement; why? Because he has not been able to score runs in the past 8 matches? Then going by that scenario, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Mahendra Dhoni – everyone should retire.
People talk about how in last 18 matches, he had an average of 38. Then I would like to ask those people, who in the current Indian team has a better average than him in that category? Why should only Sachin come under the bus; in fact, he had the best average after Dravid in that category.
Even in the corporate world, in the best companies of the world, nobody fires the best CEO in the world just because he had a poor year. Every company gives its employees a minimum 3-year period to perform. If he performs badly continuously, then he gets fired. Sachin has been the best Indian batsmen since the last 2 years, 3 years, 5 years, last 10 years, last 15 years (the stats also shows the same) and just because he has not performed well in 8 matches, he should retire. I wonder what kind of cynical world we live in.
Critics and so-called “fans” are very strange by nature. They applaud people who achieve success but as soon as these people falter, critics and “fans” are the first one to bring them down. They will seize the opportunity to make sure that since they have not been successful, why let others remain on that podium? One day Sachin is the greatest, the other day he is the worst. One day Dhoni is the best captain in the world, in the next match/series, he is the worst. How fickle we can be in terms of our opinion is just surprising and funny at times. All those critics/fans that call themselves cricket experts and have asked for Sachin’s retirement based on facts should get their facts checked. Because last I checked, Sachin has been the best amongst the current crop of active players in the longer run. One year does not define what kind of things he is capable of achieving.
People talk about his age and how his age is the factor for his decline. Then again, I have a question to those people: since when does age hamper one’s performance? In some it can, but how are they absolutely sure that Sachin has been affected by age? If they are so sure, then how will they define Sir Jack Hobbs who scored a test century at the age of 46? Half his hundreds came when he was over 40. How do they define the long list of cricketers playing after 40 including Clive Lloyd, Alec Stewart and Gordon Greenidge?
No one can define how one can play at a certain age. It is only for the player to decide and not the people outside. If we are asking Sachin to retire, deep down inside we know, it is not because of his lack of form, it is because of our pessimistic and fickle attitude where in our heart fails to understand how can the greatest player still continue to play with the same zeal as 17-year-old.
Apart from his runs, people fail to see the fear that he creates in the mind of opponents and the confidence that he generates in Indian youngsters with his presence. The above two factors are tangible yet strong points one cannot afford to ignore. If we fail to see this, then it makes me remember “Divide and conquer” theory of the British which led to the demise of our country. Sachin’s retirement is what every opponent is secretly hoping for. ‘The critics have been fuelling the people in India to force Sachin into retirement to see the fall of India as a cricketing nation.
It is time for the true fans to step up and show Sachin that we really care and we are with him when he truly deserves our support. How can we forget the times, when through his cricket, he inspired us to achieve more in our lives, we smiled and felt proud from inside for being a part of the great cricketing nation, those cherished memories ( 1999 Australian series, the battle against Shane Warne and so may more) that we still talk about with our friends? This is the time when we all should stand up to support the greatest batsman in the world.
See the facts above, think logically, be a true fan and say to those who ask for his retirement that we do not care what they say. To us, we are with Sachin and will support him not because our heart says that, but also because facts also supports this. This is why I strongly believe that Sachin should not retire.
I am really thankful to my father who made me realize until stats are checked, don’t believe the one-sided story currently being played in the papers. I will end my article with the following quote for Sachin Tendulkar:
“Along the way there’s going to be a lot of obstacles, a lot of adversity, a lot of people who will tell you you’re not good enough. I’m here to tell you that you are. Everyone that tells you that you’re not is because they didn’t accomplish something.” – Tim Tebow