Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar’s announcement of his retirement from Tests has evoked emotive reaction from City’s followers of the game. Many felt the game would never be the same without Sachin going to the middle.
Recalling his experience of watching Tendulkar play, Delux Digital Studios Quality Control Engineer Srikanth Kadambi said, “I was about 12 when I shook his hands. It was my first live match (India-Australia tie in 1998) where he scored 177 runs.
There were six or seven of us waiting for him near the team bus. He went inside, kept his bag, came out and shook hands with us.” Kadambi plans to watch the 200th test match when Sachin will bid good bye.
Likewise, IT professional Prem Kumar wondered whether cricket would be the same anymore and whether he would make time to watch the game. It’s an end of modern era of cricket, he added. A few though felt that Sachin should have hung on for a couple of more games.
According to forest department staffer T K Ananth unless there is a correct replacement, Sachin should not retire. Any one that replaces him should consistently play at least a fraction of the number of matches he has managed.
However, others felt, it was the right moment for Sachin to have called it a day in style. Goethe Institute Student Kashyap felt Sachin had called time on the game at the right juncture though he could play a couple of more matches.
“His 200th Test match would be an opportunity for him to end it on a high note and retire gracefully,” he added.
Describing him as a legend and that the game would definitely miss him, Umpire Shavir Tarapore, said he had been lucky to officiate in three of the matches where Sachin made high score including the ODI in Gwalior where he sored double century.