Sachin Tendulkar Forced To Retire? Former Selector Makes Explosive Claim

Sachin Tendulkar [Source: @ICC/x]

Sachin Tendulkar concluded his glittering international career with a landmark 200th Test against West Indies in front of his home crowd in late 2013. The legendary Indian batter scored a match-winning half-century to bow out of the game in style, thus bringing the curtains down on his decorated 24-year journey.

Apparently, discussions around Tendulkar’s retirement had begun surfacing a year earlier, as per an explosive claim made by former cricketer and then BCCI chief selector Sandeep Patil. According to Patil, the Indian selection committee was planning to replace the senior batter owing to his lean patch with the bat in 2012 and early 2013.

World Cup winner says committee talked about Tendulkar’s retirement

Sandeep Patil, who was BCCI chief selector from September 2012 till September 2016, recently revealed that the selection committee was looking for Sachin Tendulkar’s replacement a year before the legendary batter announced his retirement.

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The 1983 World Cup winner stated that his conversation about the same with Tendulkar even left the senior pro in “shock”.

While speaking with journalist Vickey Lalwani in an interview, Sandeep Patil said “I asked, ‘What are your plans?’ Sachin Tendulkar asked, 'Why?' I told him the committee was looking for a replacement. He was shocked. He called me again - are you serious? I said yes.”

Sandeep Patil says committee not credited for bringing Bumrah, Rahane etc.

Sandeep Patil further claimed that the then selection committee is remembered only for Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement. Even though the selectors were largely responsible for the rise and debuts of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Ajinkya Rahane, Indian cricket fans and experts hardly credit Patil’s committee for the same.

He said, “I understand why people were angry. He is Sachin Tendulkar. But Shami came in. Bumrah came in. Ashwin, Jadeja, Rahane. Nobody talks about those picks. They only remember that we dropped Sachin.”

Sachin Tendulkar retirement an emotional moment in Indian cricket

Sachin Tendulkar eventually announced his retirement ahead of India’s two-match Test series against West Indies in November 2013. His final international match also turned to be his landmark 200th Test appearance, thus becoming the first cricketer in history to attain the feat.

Playing in front of his home crowd at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, the perennial run machine scored 74 off 118 balls with 12 elegant boundaries.

Notably, the series also marked the Test debuts of Rohit Sharma and Mohammed Shami as Tendulkar’s farewell assignment a symbolic passing of the baton to the next generation of Indian cricket.

Thirteen years since his retirement, the former batter remains the highest run-scorer in international cricket with 34,357 runs. He is also the leading run-getter in both Tests and ODIs and is the only batter in Test history to have scored 50 or more centuries.

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