Sachin Tendulkar is arguably the best cricketer ever to play the sport and rightly so. He is the leading run-scorer in Tests and ODIs and played a staggering 24 years for India during his glittering career. He retired from international cricket in 2013 and it was a massive event. However, it has been revealed now that the BCCI was keen to replace him from the Indian team a year before his eventual retirement.
The master blaster was going through a bad patch in 2012 and was averaging only 23.8 in nine Tests without a century to his name. The story wasn't much different in ODIs as he averaged only 31.5 in 10 matches. It was at this stage that Sachin was asked about his future by the then chief selector, Sandeep Patil. He has now revealed the conversation between them while also stating that Sachin was shocked to know that he was being replaced.
"What are your plans?" Patil had asked Tendulkar. "He said, 'Why?' I told him the committee was looking for a replacement. He was shocked. He called me again - are you serious? I said yes," Patil said in the Vicky Lalwani Show on YouTube.
Selectors can drop a player, not ask him to retire
Sandeep Patil also confirmed that the selection committee can only drop a player and not ask him or her to retire. Retirement is completely the particular player's decision. He also noted that his tenure at the helm is only remembered for Sachin's exit while not many mention that the rise of young players like Ravi Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah among others happened when he was the chief selector.
"Selectors can drop a player. Selectors cannot tell a player his career is over. We asked his plans. He said he wanted to continue. We said okay. I understand why people were angry. He is Sachin Tendulkar. But Shami came in. Bumrah came in. Ashwin, Jadeja, Rahane. Nobody talks about those picks. They only remember that we dropped Sachin," Patil added.
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