Are Tendulkar and Ponting done? Is it time to call it a day?
 

As an ardent cricket fan, watching two of the three ATG batsmen struggle so much is very painful. They say cricketers know when to go, but do they really? Cricketers are but human, and human beings have never been good judges. Of course, it is not unreasonable of Tendulkar or Ponting to carry on in the hope that a big one is just around the corner, given how prodigiously skilled they are at what they do, but sometimes the mind just refuses to accept that the body cannot co-operate well enough for the skills to be executed anymore. Both batsmen have been going through extremely lean patches. Tendulkar scored a brilliant ton against us early last year but since then has been woeful. Admittedly, Ponting batted like a dream against India at home last year but that seems to have been a one-off, since before and after that there's pretty much nothing. More worryingly, these two are struggling not just against good bowling in hard conditions but also in relatively easy conditions, on flat decks. To add to their woes, both of them seem to be getting bowled in every innings - a sure shot sign of father time announcing his arrival. So what do you think? Do these two legends have a last hurrah in them? Or is it game over?

What will they do after retiring? They may live for 50 more years but they will never play for their countries in front of tens of thousands of fans. Let them continue until the selectors replace them with better choices or until their bodies give up. I find great beauty in people trying hard irrespective of success or failure. There is nothing romantic in "going out on top". It is too Hollywood.

AWTA. They have no obligation to retire, it's all up to the selectors.

There is if they're keeping out good young players, but actually in sides with Quiney and Yuvrav in the teams anyway, I'm not sure that's the case ATM.

In the ideal scenario the upcoming series between India-Aus should be the last for both.I ****ing hope the State Board and other authorities here prepare the Green Park up on time else it'll lose a test match again and I'll lose my first and last opportunity to see both these legends playing in the same match.

Seeing Ponting's performance I won't be surprised if the selectors drop him in the next test itself and about Sachin..well even BCCI can't/won't do **** because this guy is unarguably the biggest Indian sporting icon since Dhyan Chand and makes all the greedy grandpa politicians in the board a lot of $$$$ plus I can bet my bottom dollar that Sachin won't retire on his own because the guy just won't leave on a low no matter what..I still remember the massive issue of dropping Tendulkar creeped up after WC 2007 and all the media here dumped him 24x7 and we all know what happened in the succeeding years..unfortunately age is not on his side this time and it's much trickier than 2007.

I just hope they both leave with their heads held high..Ricky's my favorite cricketer and I respect Sachin a ton not just for the records but also for being the icon that he has been over the years.

Nah, I really disagree with this.

Of course if they keep failing they should man up and cop the abuse, but it's totally up to them when they feel like calling it quits.

Who in India can step up right now? They'll probably pick Raina again.

But surely the obligation is on the selectors not the players themselves.

dwta

Warne and McGs farewells will always be etched in my mind

At 39 and 37 they're mere whippersnappers

Has I said in this situation I reckon they should stay on. Yet I do think it makes someone look selfish when they hold on, on reputation.

Tendulkar is a particular problem, for the selectors to drop him would almost be to commit sacrilege.

It's pretty obvious that the current versions of Sachin & Punter are but faded facsimilies of their former selves. However, as bagapath & fred observe, whilst in their cricketing dotages as they seem to be, in absolute terms they're still young men with (one trusts) many years ahead of them.

As the cliche has it, you're a long time retired. I would certainly never mark down any player for continuing past their primes; the only pertinent question is "can they still do a job for their team better than the alternatives?" Grecian's ahead of me when he says Quiney's and Yuvraj's presences in their respective countries' test XIs suggest they are.

India won't miss Tendulkar as much as they think they will, hasn't done a lot for a while and when a decent player like Badrinath is unable to get in the side then maybe things are a little bit better than they think. Having said that i'd still pick Tendulkar over Yuvraj and he probably has more in the bank than Ponting does as Ponting has been wretched for nearly 3 years bar a few months.

Personally I hope Ponting plays the ashes double header as i think he has gone and it would help us but he has been a wonderful player and both are starting to reach Viv Richards style naff ends to careers (1 ton in his last 20 tests) which in the short term are tarnishing their brilliant careers and with it some peoples memories might not remember them as great as they should. Dravid did it right, went out on a massive high really as his brilliant tour to England was fresh in everyones mind when he went.

I just hope we aren't repeating this thread in 12-18 months time about Kallis. :(

It already has affected his legacy. Not too long ago he was seen as the best Aussie batsman since Bradman and the equal if not better (briefly) than Lara and Tendulkar. He was averaging over 60.
Hopefully like with Viv after his career is over we will remember the dominant years.

Yea sachins done.