'Sachin entertained the whole cricketing world'

Reverence was apparent when Pakistan T20 skipper Mohammad Hafeez and a few of his team-mates reacted to Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement from one-day internationals on Sunday.

The Indian batting great, through a statement to the BCCI, disclosed his decision to quit the ODIs to focus his energies on Tests. Tendulkar has always opted out of T20 Internationals.
“If cricket was a religion then Sachin would have been the God,” said Umar Amin who wishes to play against the Indian legend. “I’d have loved to play against him. I played in the 2010 Asia Cup but he wasn’t there. I wish he was there in this series. I wish him all the best for the rest of his life.”

“Has he retired?” was how Hafeez reacted when sought his reaction. “He is a legend. We all should feel sad for that (ODI retirement). As a cricketer I personally, and we as Pakistanis will really miss him. As a nation we love him, he is a great entertainer, and the talent he has got is exceptional. He dominated for the last two decades but we have to respect his decision. I wish him the very best in whatever he wants to do in the future,” he remarked.

Left-arm pacer Sohail Tanvir said one can’t capture Tendulkar’s contributions in words.
“To talk about Sachin bhai, there aren’t enough words to describe his performances. We need to respect him for how much he has entertained not just India but the whole cricketing world. He’s a highly-respected player. He’s done so well for India but we all know that everyone has to go some day. Like there’s a stage in life, there’s a stage in cricket as well – everyone comes, everyone has to go. It was difficult to bowl to him because the margin for error was very little. He had many strokes. He’s playing Test cricket so I hope he will score more centuries for India.”

Paceman Umar Gul hoped young Indians have picked up some lessons from the maestro. “It has always been fun to play against him. We’ve seen him from our childhood. He’s served India so well, I hope junior boys like Virat (Kohli) and (Suresh) Raina have learnt from him.”