Sachin Tendulkar : Slowly moving into the Sunset.

It is tough to be Sachin Tendulkar nowadays.

For the age-less cricket wonder, it must be really a tough time indeed. The only man other than himself probably facing such a situation is Roger Federer. But, he does not have the pressure from 1.2 billion people. Nor is he playing a sport wherein a small mistake, and done! Nevertheless, I am not here to undermine the greatness of the Swiss Maestro. But rather, I am here to share my thoughts about why I feel Sachin is planning his retirement perfectly.

Not until long ago, he tamed the South African bowlers with ease. He was foot-on-foot against possibly the best fast-bowler nowadays, Dale Steyn. I still freshly remember his century at Cape Town, and the way he played Steyn in the first session in the 4th day is a perfect example as to how to tackle fast bowling. But alas! It has been downfall for him ,as far as his performance in the test arena is concerned.

Later that year, he did manage to win that one trophy he wanted so badly- the world cup. He played well in the tournament, but then came in the media hype about his hundredth century. If not for that hundredth century hype, I feel that his performance on the foriegn tours of England and Australia would have went well. But then, we are his greedy fans anyways.

Always expecting him to score a century when he comes into bat, we, the fans, never realised till then that he was just a mere human. A human like none other. But still a human. The unwanted media pressure- during the mid- world cup, and later on in each and every match he played, surely caused more harm to him than one might expect.

He was 38, which is no small age by any means. He might be technically correct, but yet, his hand-eye co-ordination was weakening. But yet, he had the mental strength. Even after winning the world cup, he felt he can continue playing for the country. I wont blame the decision, he knew exactly as to how he was playing, and it is his right to continue to play or not. But I guess he could not have predicted what followed.

Media coverages about 1 hr as to when Sachin will score his 100th century, everyday. And just before an international match, the un-neccessary no of shows just doubles. And over top of that, the expectations from the millions of fans. Well, any of it was not new to him, but the magnitude of what he was facing, was probably un-precedented.

And he showed that he was human, after all.

Then came the eventual downfall. His performance was definitely affected by that, and he came agonisingly close to it many times, missing the mark just by a whisker. I clearly remember, in a test match against West Indies in Wankede, he was in top-notch form. He resumed the 2nd day, left stranded in 60 odd runs. Well, now you can imagine what the media must have done with that. And the next day, just when he was breezing past to his century, he edged one off Rampal to the slips, falling short by 6 runs.

It took time for him, and nearly after one and half year of tremendous pressure, he finally got the monkey off his back, when no one expected him to. It was not the best of his centuries - with strike rate well below 100, against a team like Bangladesh. He definitely was the reason for the defeat( as Bangladesh chased off the target easily). But then, he finally took off his load. He showed the glimpse of his old himself, scoring a brisk 50 in what was going to be his last ODI.

Then what followed was clearly a rough patch for him, but again, media pressure took its turn.

"IS IT TIME FOR SACHIN TO RETIRE? "
This was the tagline possibly in each and every show covering on Sachin. Everyone was analysing as to what he might thinking, what he might be doing to get back to form, and blah blah. Cmon! It is his career, and he and only he has the right to decide what to do.

Then, he planned. He decided on how to end his career.

First, he decided to retire himself from ODI’s. Well, one might feel that all this was thanks to the media pressure, and the pressure from the boards to perform. But frankly, he had nothing much left to achieve. He owns more than half of the batting records in ODI, and he achieved what he wanted to, a little more than a year ago. Also, I guess he found a reliable replacement of himself in Virat Kohli. So why block the place for another talented youngster?

But he felt the team still needed him. After the retirement of Laxman and Dravid, the middle order was severly in-experienced, and there was no one to guide the youngsters. Though his performance was down, but a mere presence of him can boost the confidence of any player, and thats what it did.

Though India lost the test series against England, the youngsters came in back strongly, defeated the visiting Aussies 4-0. Pujara and Kolhi were impressive, and the future of the Indian middle order looked in somewhat safe hands.

And about IPL, his decision was spot on. Just when they won the elusive league, Sachin called it quits. Seriously, T20 is the game for the current generation, and at his age, his role in the team is quite minimal.

And now, the media is still creating the hype about the 200th test. Seriously, it is just an another test match! Again, by arranging the un-wanted test series, it somehow feels that BCCI is pressurising him to retire just after the 200th test.

But as always, BCCI doesn’t realise that Sachin never plays for his gain. He always plays for the "greater good"

He knows he still has a job in his hands . The players, though extremely talented,  do not have the first- hand experience of South African conditions, leave alone facing their deadly fast bowling unit. The experience of Sachin will play a crucial role in mentoring the youngsters to play in the foriegn condition.

Finally, I am priviledged and lucky to see Sachin play. He has sorted the things out clearly, and he knows when to retire, and to how long to continue. I appeal to fellow fans, to just forget about his retirement, and enjoy each and every ball he faces, as his days in cricket might be numbered.