“I realised that I had to force myself to wake up and go about my day”
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
It was a sad day in world cricket when iconic India batsman Sachin Tendulkar brought his illustrious career to an end in November 2013. But, when exactly did the ‘Little Master’ know for sure that it was time to step away from the sport he loved?
Tendulkar revealed that the thought of retirement began creeping into his mind while he was playing in a Champions League Twenty20 match just a month before he played his last game for India.
“It was October 2013 during one of the Champions League games in Delhi,” he wrote in a post titled My Second Innings after joining LinkedIn. “My mornings would start with a gym workout, a routine I had been following for 24 years. But that morning in October, something had changed.
“I realised that I had to force myself to wake up and go about my day. I knew that the gym training was a critical part of my cricket – something that had been my life for 24 years. Yet, there was reluctance. Why?
“Were these signs…signs that I should stop? Signs that the game that has been so dear to me, would no longer be a part of my daily routine?”
Tendulkar also reflected on some wise words he received from legendary India opener Sunil Gavaskar when brooding about whether to pull the trigger on his retirement.
“Sunil Gavaskar, one of my heroes and a former cricketer, once said that he made up his mind to quit the game when he found himself checking the clock, to see how much time there was left for the lunch and tea intervals,” he wrote. “Suddenly I knew exactly what he meant. My mind and my body were telling me the same thing. Maybe, it’s time to hang up my boots.
“I also remembered the words of Billie Jean King, at Wimbledon a few years ago – you will know for sure when to go, it will come from inside you, don’t let the world decide when you have to retire.
“But what will a sportsman do if he’s not a sportsman anymore? How do you prepare for a day when something that consumed each day of the 24 years of your life, isn’t the focus anymore?
“The energising chant of ‘Sachin, Sachin’ that the crowds cheered each time I walked onto the field, was an indescribable feeling and rush. This probably won’t be heard anymore. Was I ready for that? These thoughts and a discussion with my family and closest friends helped make up my mind. My innings was indeed coming to an end.
“The years flashed before my eyes. The victories, the losses, the celebrations, the challenges and the silences … the journey. India’s win at the World Cup in 2011 was a dream come true as was the team’s generous gesture of dedicating the cup to me. But, that chapter of my life was ending. What now, I wondered.”