And quietly quits the don from One-dayers

Sachin Tendulkar, the jewel in the crown of India’s acclaimed batting line-up, dropped a bombshell in announcing his decision to call time on his one-day international career on Sunday. His fans, who consider the cricketer as the greatest post-war batsman to have adorned the gentleman’s game, may have been sent into a tizzy with this “emotional” decision.

The surmise in Indian cricket circles is that Sachin may have got an inkling of the selectors’ mind before the squad for the Pakistan ODIs was picked. Sachin himself cited preparations for the 2015 World Cup as what influenced his decision to call it a day. “I feel blessed to have fulfilled the dream of being part of a World Cup winning Indian team (in 2011). The preparatory process to defend the World Cup in 2015 should begin early... I would like to wish the team all the very best for the future,” he said in a statement released through BCCI while the player himself wasn’t seen in public.

Sachin defined the apo- gee of his ODI career as the day India won the World Cup last year after he had been on losing sides in five outings between 1992 and 2007, including in one final in 2003.

His teammates paid him the finest tribute in carrying him on their shoulders on a lap of honour at Mumbai’s Wankhede Sta- dium on April 2, 2011, with Gautam Gambhir saying for once they were happy to bear the burden as Sachin had carried the burden of India’s hopes on his shoulders for 23 years like the Greek Titan Atlas carrying the world.