“All those murmurs about his retirement must stop, this is not the right time to go,” said Ramakant Achrekar, 80, the man credited with the early training of the leading scorer in Test history.
“He must not retire now. He must go on playing and scoring runs for the country,” the celebrated coach told the Hindustan Times.
Tendulkar made his international debut in 1989 and has played more Tests (188) and one-day internationals (463) than any other player.
He is the highest run-getter in both forms of the game and last month became the first batsman to complete 100 international centuries – 51 in Tests and 49 in one-dayers.
But Tendulkar took more than a year to move from 99 to 100 hundreds – against Bangladesh during the Asia Cup in Dhaka – and many fans started to believe he needed to rethink his career, especially in one-dayers.
The Mumbai batsman has himself dismissed talk of retirement, saying it would be “selfish” for him to quit when he still had a lot to offer Indian cricket.
Achrekar predicted Tendulkar, currently playing in the Indian Premier League, would return to his best now that the 100th century was out of the way.
“I can see that his form is picking up and it is only a matter of time before we see him score those magnificent runs again,” he said. "Now that he has got his 100th century, he will play freely.
“My Sachin is going to play better than ever. He is far from finished... those who even bring up talk of his retirement are wrong.”
Achrekar said Tendulkar would help India bounce back from two humiliating 4-0 Test series whitewashes by England and Australia in the past year.
“The India team has been going through a rough patch lately and I believe it is Sachin who will help them sail out of it," the coach said. "He will score those crucial centuries to help the team do well once again.”
Achrekar, whose other wards included former India internationals Vinod Kambli, Praveen Amre and Ajit Agarkar, said it would be hard to find another cricketer like Tendulkar.
“Sachin is the best batsman the world has seen,” he said. “We may find another great, but I do not think we will ever get a player of his calibre.”
“The day he retires, the loss will be irreplaceable. Not only will the country feel it, but the world of cricket will miss him.”
COMMENTS (5)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
1714027629-0/Ranbirtransformation-(1)1714027629-0-270x192.webp){kind=spacer}
Bobby Simpson was recalled at the age of 42 by Australia. Sachin will be better than Bobby when he ( S.T. ) attains age of 42.
@Concerned @Indian
Did he ask your opinion/permition when he picked up the bat? Did you have a say in his choice of a cricketing carrear? Surely not.It was his decision all along. Why do you now think that you should have a opinion on his retirement? It will and should be his decision and his alone.
please don't quit!
Sachin;
Happy birthday, we love you, we all die for you. But please quit cricket, don't wait till your son make debut.
Sachin should retire when he is still at his peak since the Chief selector had categorically stated that the decision to quit lies with him.