Sachin Tendulkar reveals what made his mind up about retirement

Tendulkar used professional networking site LinkedIn, where he has signed up as an 'Influencer' to publish a write-up titled ‘My Second Innings’. The 43-year-old revealed that the very first thoughts of retirements came into his head during the during a Champions League Twenty20 in October 2013.

"It was October 2013 during one of the Champions League games in Delhi. My mornings would start with a gym workout, a routine I had been following for 24 years. But that morning in October, something had changed," Tendulkar remembered. 

My mind and my body were telling me the same thing. Maybe, it’s time to hang up my boots

"I realized that I had to force myself to wake up and go about my day. I knew that the gym training was a critical part of my cricket – something that had been my life for 24 years. Yet, there was reluctance. Why?"

Tendulkar went on to explain how talks with cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar and tennis star Billy Jean King had convinced him that he would know exactly when he had to hand up his boots.

"Sunil Gavaskar, one of my heroes and a former cricketer, once said that he made up his mind to quit the game when he found himself checking the clock, to see how much time there was left for the lunch and tea intervals. Suddenly I knew exactly what he meant. My mind and my body were telling me the same thing. Maybe, it’s time to hang up my boots," he explained.

"I also remembered the words of Billy Jean King, at Wimbledon a few years ago - you will know for sure when to go, it will come from inside you, don’t let the world decide when you have to retire."

This probably won’t be heard anymore. Was I ready for that?

Once he had made his decision, Tendulkar said that he started to look back at his career to remember all the things that he had achieved and what he would miss the most in the game. 

"The energizing chant of “Sachin, Sachin” that the crowds cheered each time I walked onto the field, was an indescribable feeling and rush. This probably won’t be heard anymore. Was I ready for that?" Tendulkar said. 

"The years flashed before my eyes. The victories, the losses, the celebrations, the challenges and the silences…the journey. India’s win at the World Cup in 2011 was a dream come true as was the team’s generous gesture of dedicating the cup to me. But, that chapter of my life was ending. What now, I wondered."

Now that he doesn't have to train everyday, the Master Blaster has a lot of time in his hands, and he has used that well by associating himself with a lot of social causes. The connection with sports, however, remains as strong as ever now that he has a stake in the ISL side Kerala Blasters.

"One of the highlights of my post-cricket years has been the adoption of Puttamraju Kandriga, a village in Andhra Pradesh. Seeing the village don a new look after two years of intensive infrastructural development, had a joy that can’t be put into words," Tendulkar added.

"A project called ‘Spreading Happiness’, that I am involved in, provides electricity to deprived areas. Arrangements to tap solar energy have been made in over 73 villages and nearly 25,000 people have been impacted by the same. The mission to ‘light up’ homes across the length and breadth of the country will continue.

"Joining hands with Shri Narendra Modi, our honorable Prime Minister, for the ‘Swacch Bharat’ (Clean India) campaign was another step in this direction. It was also in tune with my role as the UNICEF Ambassador for Hygiene and Sanitation. The campaign’s success makes me confident that India will adopt the cause and adapt to it as well.

"These days, I’m thinking beyond cricket. ‘Kerala Blasters’, the football team I co-own in the Indian Super League has given me many proud moments. The sea of yellow jerseys filling up the stadium, the deafening sound of around 60,000 fans cheering for KBFC is an overwhelming feeling in itself."