Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar has announced
retirement from ODI format today bringing an end to a glorious 23-year-old
career in the format. "I have decided to retire from the One-Day
format of the game. I feel blessed to have fulfilled the dream of being part of
a World Cup wining Indian team. The preparatory process to defend the World Cup
in 2015 should begin early and in right earnest," the 39-year-old said in
a statement released by the BCCI today. He also added that he would like to
wish the team all the very best for the future and he is eternally grateful to
all my well wishers for their unconditional support and love over the years.
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| After World Cup Victory |
Tendulkar, considered the most complete
batsman in modern cricket and one who was considered next only to the legendary
Sir Donald Bradman. He retires with amassing 18,426 runs in 463 one-dayers at
an average of 44.83 with 49 hundreds in the format, including a double hundred -
the first in this form of the game. He is highest run getter in this format of
game. Ricky Ponting stands second highest run getter and Sanath Jayasuriya
stands third in this format. Besides his batting, Tendulkar was an effective
bowler and finishes his ODI career with 154 wickets, including two five-wicket hauls.
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| Sachin's 1st Run in ODI |
Tendulkar made his ODI debut against Pakistan
way back in 1989 and interestingly he is quitting the scene just ahead of
another series against the arch-rivals. Going forward Sachin will now remain
active in only the Test arena. The brightest moment of his ODI career came last
year when he finally became part of a World Cup winning Indian team after five
previous appearances.
The Australian government on Tuesday awarded Tendulkar the prestigious Order Of Australia (OOA). He became the third Indian after Mother Teresa (1982) and Soli Sorabjee (2006) and fourth non-Australian cricketer after West Indian greats Clive Lloyd (1985) and Garfield Sobers (2003), Brian Lara (2009) to get the honour.
