The former captain of the Pakistan cricket team Wasim Akram has recently said in an interview that it is always had for the selectors to ask a player like Sachin Tendulkar about his retirement and therefore the cricketer should himself take a call on his international career.
The Indian cricket team has lost two back-to-back test matches against England and Sachin is not performing since a long time.
Wasim Akram said, “When your most experienced batsman hasn’t scored a Test century in almost two years, questions are bound to rise.”
He added, “It finally boils down to your own assessment as (Australia’s Ricky) Ponting did”
Further, Akram said, “The question is who will bell the cat? Who will pop the question? Today, former cricketers are openly asking for Dhoni’s head.”
The former Pakistani captain said, “Can you do the same with a Tendulkar? A lot of people, like Sourav Ganguly, feel he should retire, but Sachin himself might still want to continue for another six months or so. It’s difficult to give any advice to a legend like Sachin.”
He adds that a clear call on Sachin’s international cricketing career would surely help the national selectors to find a suitable replacement.
Akram said, “The changes have to be made carefully. One shouldn’t tamper too much with the team line-up. But the middle order needs a few new faces. And somebody needs to ask Sachin on what is his future plan and for how long does he want to continue.”
Wasim Akram said, “When Sachin first stepped into international cricket, nobody would have thought that this lad would go on to score 100 tons and smash all batting records. If I was in his shoes I would have stepped down by now because there is nothing else left to achieve.”
