MOJITO

Had Sachin scored one more run in yesterdays match(scorecard), it would have been the 12th time that India lost a match when Sachin scored a century. Its good that he got out on 99 and so the embarrassing record remains at 11.

SR Tendulkar run out (van Wyk/wicket-keeperBoucher) 99 199 143 12 0 69.23

Coming to the point, he batted 143 balls to get that 99 runs. I would have been much happier if he had scored 30 runs from 30 balls. Its a crime to score just 99 of 143 balls in one day cricket i would say. That too, considering the fact, how aggressively cricket is played nowadays(Avan ava 6 ball's 6 six adikkaraan.).

Before i thittify/polambify further, i like to state that all the above and below are on an assumption that the pitch wasn't very slow and it wasn't a bowling pitch. If Kallis can score 91 of 116 balls, then i can safely assume that the pitch was not slow.

This is what the news dailies has to say about sachins innings.
Time of India - "Though Sachin lost his wicket at the wrong time, it cant dilute the quality of his innings"
---Quality!!! You guys believe so. Not me. TOI, you are better(best???) in covering Page 3 and entertainment section(I love "Hyderabad Times"), but not the sports section. Please change your editor for sports column to someone who writes reliable news(Also, someone who puts more of Sharapova and Sania Mirza pic till Wimbledon is over)

Hindu : "that the old power is, aged 34, steam driven not nuclear, but that he is the equal of any batsman still playing."
---Point rejected, next one please.
Hindu : "Some will see indications that he will soon have to think out his retirement carefully. It is possible to understand this desire to write finis to his career."
---Point accepted

The Indian Express: "Though Tendulkar and Dravid did the repair job, they could not really manage to accelerate the pace of scoring and were held on a tight leash by the all-pace South African attack."
---Nyaayamaana pechu.

Finally, my stand. Its loud and clear. Sachin should retire. He has done a lot already to be remembered for a long long time. Now, he just has to look that all those don't get spoiled. So, the only option is retirement.