Sachin Tendulkar, Time to Give It Up?

The IPL's most expensive franchise, the Mumbai Indians' campaign came to a sad end this week. After having a horrible start of losing four matches, they redeemed themselves and won six on the trot.

However, they lost again, to be knocked out this time. The win against The Royal Challengers Bangalore was just a consolation.

The form of Sachin Tendulkar was one of the reasons of the failure of the team he captained. He failed to score big when his team required it the most and in the last match his inability to score was evident when he could not connect simple sweep strokes against Bangalore.

The question arose in my mind, has Sachin lost his batting form that he was so feared for ?

Truly a batsman that can give Shane Warne sleepless nights is a great batsman. But since the 2003 World Cup Sachin Tendulkar has never been the same. He looks like a completely different batsman altogether. The very aggressive, attacking Tendulkar is long gone and what remains now is a shadow of that legend.

His injuries have been blamed for his dip in batting but even in fielding or bowling, he does not look the same. He has put on a lot of weight and is slow to react. That fact is that Tendulkar has moved past his prime and should call it a day. But instead of that he still plays on, for money or for fame we would never know.

For the past few years, he has been selected regularly for India, no matter what kind of form he is in. His performances do not justify his claim as the world's best batsman ever.

He occasionally comes up with a century and is in no way a pressure performer, but does this occasional big score justify his place in the team?

I think not.

I also believe he did the right thing by ruling himself unavailable for the tri series. His age is beginning to tell on him. His inclusion would mean that a promising youngster would have had to sit out.

It is sad to see a legend like him struggling to keep up with the demands of the new faster version of cricket.

Well, I guess it is time to give it up and retire gracefully.