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In 21 Tests that India has played since cricket's World Cup two years ago, Sachin Tendulkar has batted 38 times, remaining not out once. He has scored a total of 1,145 runs, failed to manage a single century, and notched up a batting average of 31.8 - which is the kind of figure you would expect from a middle-order all-rounder like Yuvraj Singh, not a top-order batsman. The decline of the great batsman becomes stark when you compare his record of the last two years with how the same (rather, a very different) Tendulkar performed in the 21 Tests that India played in the two years immediately before the World Cup. He batted 34 times, remained not out five times, and scored 2,263 runs at a Bradmanesque average of 78. For good measure, he also scored 10 centuries, including two double centuries.
There is no comparable period in Tendulkar's 23-year career in international cricket when he has performed so poorly, and he is a month shy of the age of 40. He is unlikely to get better at what he does; rather, he is likely to do even worse in the future. All the numbers point to one inescapable conclusion: the great batsman should go. He is now a liability to an Indian team that is bristling with young talent in its 20s; in the series against Australia that has just drawn to a triumphant close for the Indian team, Tendulkar scored the least number of runs among the top six batsmen.
The unfortunate fact, though, is that Tendulkar seems immune to the thought of his cricket mortality, and this should invite intervention from India's cricket selectors. Tendulkar has more than earned the right to choose the time of his departure from the national stage, but if he does not do it then others should do it for him. It seems obvious that a quiet word in private prompted him to announce his retirement from One-Day International cricket, hours before the Indian team was to be chosen some weeks ago. Another quiet word should be had with him before the selectors sit down to pick the team to tour South Africa later this year. If he does not then do what is required, the selectors should do what they did with Virender Sehwag: drop Tendulkar from the team. This may seem cruel for one of the game's greatest; but no matter how much cricket bristles with statistics, it remains a team sport and the team is more important than any individual.
Tendulkar's going would mark the passing of an era in Indian Test cricket, one that saw the likes of Rahul Dravid, V V S Laxman, Virender Sehwag and Sourav Ganguly. It also saw bowlers such as Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh (another player who should fade away). These have been India's greats - its biggest run getters, among its biggest wicket takers. The others have gone; only Tendulkar remains as a reminder of past glory. A new Indian team is being built, and there is plenty of talent to pick from. Tendulkar belongs to the history books, not in the team bus.
