After the tears, composed Tendulkar looks forward to retirement

The day after he bid a teary goodbye to the game of cricket that he has loved and cherished for a quarter century, a more composed Sachin Tendulkar had a smile on his face as he told a room full of journalists at the Trident hotel in Mumbai that retiring was the right decision. “At some point in your life, your body gives you the message, ‘Enough. Enough of this physical load.’ The body requires rest. I thought the body is refusing to take that load consistently. If I have to train, it was becoming an effort. Earlier training sessions used to happen by themselves. Nowadays, sometimes I even felt that I should just sit and watch TV. That’s when question marks arise. “So when I tried to look for answers to those questions, I found out this was the perfect time to leave the game."” Dressed in his India blazer and sitting alone on stage, Tendulkar looked rested and relaxed as he faced the barrage of questions, with journalists shouting over one another in English, Hindi and Marathi in an attempt to get his attention and the answers they wanted. [caption id=“attachment_1235847” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Dressed in his India blazer and sitting alone on stage, Tendulkar looked rested and relaxed. PTI[/caption] The questions came thick and fast. Had the end of his career sunk in yet? How did he feel when he woke up this morning? How did he feel about receving the Bharat Ratna? Was he going to campaign for cricket’s inclusion in the Olympics? Would he open a cricket academy? Through it all Tendulkar sat patiently and did his best to answer each question as thoroughly as he could. No, it had not sunk in yet. This morning he had woken up at 6:50 am just like he did the day before. It was the default setting on his body clock. Then he remembered he did not have to rush into the shower and get ready for a match. “I made myself a cup of tea, and enjoyed a nice breakfast with my wife.” The rest of his morning was spent replying to all the messages he received wishing him well as he thanked everyone for their support. Then it was time to get ready for the press conference. Tendulkar was clearly enjoying himself as he repeated the story about how his school coach, Ramakant Achrekar, had never congratulated him during his 24-year career because he did not want his star pupil to become complacent. Then Tendulkar revealed the Bharat Ratna had finally changed all that. “When I got the Bharat Ratna, Sir called me and finally said, ‘Well done’. That gave me immense joy.” He dedicated the award to his mother, Rajni, for all the sacrifices she made so he could become the cricketer he is today, and then extended it to include the millions of mothers everywhere in India who made sacrifices on a daily basis for their children. Tendulkar being Tendulkar, he also made sure to congratulate CNR Rao for his Bharat Ratna, saying it was an honour to be named alongside such an eminent scientist. While he was not prepared to be drawn into a discussion about his future, he was willing to have some fun with his rapt audience, drawing much laughter with his answer. “I have played cricket for 24 years, it has been only 24 hours since retirement, and I think I should get at least 24 days to relax before deciding these things.” That drew another round of applause and laughter from the room. There was also insight into some of the toughest times in Tendulkar’s career. In 2005, he was forced to take an almost five month sabbatical from the game because of surgery to fix his tennis elbow. Such was the severity of the injury that Tendulkar was certain his career was over. “After the tennis-elbow surgery, I couldn’t even lift Arjun’s plastic bat. When I went to practise for the first time with a season ball after surgery, I was playing with some kids. I was hitting the ball hard but it was only going 10 to 15 yards. I felt then that I won’t be able to play anymore. It was a difficult phase in my life.” The most poignant moment of the evening came when Tendulkar was asked about why he had walked to the centre of the Wankhede Pitch, bent down, touched the soil and then his heart and head. He did it because that was his way of saying thank you to the game that has given him everything him in life and to which he will always owe a debt of gratitude. “That is where it all started. Those 22 yards have given me everything in my life. Whatever I have today is because I spent time within those 22 yards. It’s like a temple for me. I just wanted to say a big thank you to cricket. Every time I go to bat, I touch the wicket and take blessings. “That’s what I did yesterday. I didn’t say it publicly. I just thanked cricket for everything I got in my life. It was as simple as that. Nothing complicated.”