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I’m not thinking of retirement: Sachin

Agencies

Posted online: Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at 1534 hrs IST
      

Adelaide, January 23: : How long will Sachin Tendulkar prolong his illustrious career may be a matter of speculation for experts and fans alike, but the champion batsman says he just "wants to live in the moment" and enjoy the game without thinking too much about retirement.

"To be honest, I haven't thought about it (retirement). Basically, I just want to go out and enjoy the game. I just want to live in the moment, enjoy it all to the best of my ability," Tendulkar said.

The Adelaide Test starting on Thursday will be Tendulkar's 146th but the veteran batsman does not want to think about how long he can go on.

"I don't want to waste my time thinking about when I will stop. I don't want to think about whether I have two, three or even four years left," said Tendulkar at a pre-match dinner hosted by the South Australian Cricket Association at the Adelaide Oval on Tuesday.

Tendulkar, who began his journey in 1989 as a callow 16-year-old in Pakistan, is already in his 18th year of international cricket.

He holds the record for most runs in one-day cricket - he is only 38 shy of completing 16,000 runs -- besides having scored most centuries and could be on his way to overtake Steve Waugh's world record of 168 Tests.

If Tendulkar indeed goes on for a few more years, he would have played more years of international cricket than some of the biggest names the game has seen, when he calls it a day.

Among others, this would include somebody who he has admired a lot all through his career -- Sir Donald Bradman -- who lasted a good 20 years in international cricket though, admittedly, a few good years of his were wasted because of the Second World War during 1939-45.

The Mumbai cricketer clearly appears unfazed by the fate of his senior fellow batsmen in the team like Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, who have been ignored for the forthcoming Commonwealth Bank one-day series.

Nor does he appear mindful that his captain on this tour, Anil Kumble, has gone on record to proclaim the ongoing tour as his last visit to Australia.

Still, the kind of reception Tendulkar gets every time he comes out to bat in Australia conveys that everyone thinks it is his last visit to these shores.

"Australia is a fantastic place to play cricket. I have always enjoyed playing here as people understand the sport. It's competitive and a great challenge, I love it," said Tendulkar, who presented his jumper on the occasion to the Bradman Museum, Bowral, a moment that brought the house down with a huge round of applause.

Apparently, the jumper is the one Tendulkar wore the last time he was in Australia.

Talking about the fourth and final Test starting Thursday, Tendulkar claimed India was not taking its eyes off the present Australian team after beating them in Perth last week.

"We know that Ricky Ponting's team will come hard at us. They have always done that in the past. We don't want to take anything for granted," he said.

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Scored a century
by Sanjay on 2008-01-24 11:19:29.783883+05:30
You keep scoring centuries, show these naysayers something.Great work
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All good things must come to an end some day
by P.P. TALWAR on 2008-01-23 22:31:01.947487+05:30
It is amazing, why should Sachin Tendulkar stubbornly cling on to the Test cicket when the age in the natural process has already caught on him. Being in his late thirtees, the agility and his general reflexions are already becoming sluggish, causing him frequent injuries relating to health problems on the cricket pitch. Sachin should be contented having had succcessful long innings during his glorious cricket career, bringing him name, fame and fabulous wealth. To make room for the upcoming and aspiring young cricketers in team India, Sachin Tandulkar should voluntarily hang his boots saying 'good bye' to Test cricket.
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I agree
by SB on 2008-01-23 18:26:54.504505+05:30
As long as Pawarji protect me and I can play politics with other seniors with his guidance !
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Has been
by Sanjay on 2008-01-23 17:32:43.590259+05:30
Please retire fast, Criket is not an old age home. You lost that ability.
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