NEW DELHI, Mar 31: Senior BCCI official Rajeev Shukla feels that Sachin Tendulkar should be allowed to retire on his own terms considering the huge contribution the veteran batsman has made to Indian cricket.
“He (Tendulkar) has made a huge contribution to Indian cricket and is a guiding spirit of the team. Nobody has to tell him to go. When Sachin feels, it’s time; he will go on his own,” Shukla said.
Tendulkar could score just a half century in India’s recent 4-0 whitewash of Australia in the Test series with an average of 32, but Shukla was not concerned about it.
“Nobody has a higher record than Tendulkar in the world. You can’t take him lightly and dismiss him unceremoniously,” he told here.
Shukla’s views are in agreement with that of the BCCI President N Srinivasan, who has also suggested that Tendulkar should be treated differently and people should not sit in judgement of the senior batsman.
Asked about the controversy regarding the participation of the Sri Lankan players in the IPL beginning on Wednesday, Shukla said that the Board had taken a middle path by taking into the consideration the sentiments of the State (Tamil Nadu) government as well as the security of the players.
“Our decision was not taken under pressure from (TN Chief Minister) Jayalalithaa. We cannot jeopardise the lives of Lankan players. The most important concern is the safety of Lankan cricketers. We had to take a middle path by protecting the players and also respecting Tamil sentiment. Chief Ministers are responsible for the law and order of their states,” said Shukla, who is the IPL chairman.
“And we can’t change venues in short notice. We would have needed two months to shift venue, two months to prepare pitches. So we cannot shift matches outside Chennai. It’s not that people don’t want IPL matches to be held there. They only want Lankan players out of Chennai matches. When the Sri Lankan Board has accepted the condition, nobody should have a problem. We cannot ignore Tamil sentiment,” he said.
The BCCI had decided not to allow franchises to field Sri Lankan players in the IPL matches to be held in Chennai after TN Chief Minister Jayalalithaa refused to host them in view of the anti-Lankan feelings in the state. (PTI)
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