Tendulkar announced his retirement from Test cricket and said his record 200th match against the West Indies next month would be his last. Speculation was rife over the last several months about when the 40-year-old veteran would call time on his career and sources had claimed that Tendulkar was in no hurry to hang up his boots.
However, Srinivasan, who had earlier in the day told a TV channel that it was for Tendulkar to decide when he wanted to retire and dismissed suggestions that the two-Test series against the West Indies was a farewell gift to the Little Master.
"Sachin is such a great player and no one can talk of a farewell gift to him. He is possibly the greatest player India has ever produced. I am a great admirer of Sachin's batting and have followed him since he started playing international cricket," Srinivasan had told CNN IBN, adding he had would not comment on when Tendulkar should retire as that was a 'selectoral decision'. "If we respect Sachin's achievements, we should not be talking of him in these terms," Srinivsan said.
Srinivasan said Tendulkar was amongst the greatest sports stars all across the world and said no other cricketer had done what the legend from Mumbai did for Indian cricket in a career spanning 24 years.
"I have been an ardent follower and admirer of Sachin Tendulkar from the days he came to play Buchi Babu in Chennai. He is without doubt the greatest cricketer India has produced. In fact one should really say he ranks among the top of all time great sports persons in the world. No one has served Indian cricket as Sachin has. He has truly been an Ambassador for India and Indian Cricket.
"He has been an inspiration for generations of sportsmen not just cricketers. We respect his decision to retire although many of us can't imagine an Indian team without Sachin," Srinivasan said in a press release.
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