Imran Khan said Indian cricket fans cannot imagine life without Sachin Tendulkar © PTI
By CricketCountry Staff
New Delhi: Sep 12, 2012
Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan opines India batting legend Sachin Tendulkar should leave on a high, and not at the mercy of selectors.
"Sachin is such a great player but I can only say if I were in his position, I would want to leave on a high and my greatest worry was that I should never be at the mercy of the selectors,” Imran said.
The cricketer-turned-politician said a player like Tendulkar could never be at the mercy of selectors, but added that if he would have been at Tendulkar’s place, he would have pondered about his recent performances.
“Why put yourself in such a position. I mean Sachin, what a brilliant record he has. Would he not want to? Again I put myself in that position, my greatest worry was that I would not be able to perform best to my abilities. So people will not remember me for when I was at the peak but when I was leaving my career,” he said.
"I think Sachin is such a great player and people are emotionally attached. I can understand the Indian public, who has been watching him for 23 years. They can't imagine life without Sachin,” Imran was quoted as saying by NDTV.
“But from Sachin's point of view, knowing that the kind of pride that he takes in his cricket. There must be a time when he should decide that this is the right time to leave," he added.
Imran said as a cricketer, he always wanted to leave at a high.
"The reason I retired was because I did not want to be at the mercy of the selectors. I wanted to go out at my peak. The only reason I kept playing was for the cancer hospital.
“The board of governance told me that if you get out of cricket you won't be able to collect money. That's the only reason for which I kept playing. Having seen those heights, I just did not want to be at the mercy of selectors or people saying it's the time you should leave.
“That's why I respect Sunil Gavaskar. He left, he could have gone on. Sunil had one of the best defensive techniques I have seen in a batsman. Given that technique, he could have gone on but he left at the peak,” he concluded.
Tendulkar was bowled three times on the trot in the recent Test series against New Zealand.
