In a startling admission, former chief selector Sandeep Patil revealed in an interview to ABP Majha that Sachin Tendulkar would have been dropped from the Indian ODI team in 2012 had he not announced his retirement. It was heavily speculated in the media at the time of Tendulkar’s retirement that he had been nudged by the selectors to leave.
“On December 12, 2012, we met Sachin and asked him about his future plans. He said he did not have retirement on his mind. But the selection committee had reached a consensus on Sachin and had informed the board too about it. Perhaps Sachin understood what was coming because at the time of the next meeting, Sachin called and said he was retiring (from ODIs). If he had not announced his decision to quit then, we would have definitely dropped him,” Patil made this stunning revelation.
In an interview to the same group’s website, though, Patil has come out with a slightly different version of how he ‘managed’ Tendulkar’s ODI retirement.
“As long as I remember, it was December 12, 2012, Nagpur. Sachin got out and the selectors decided to meet him and ask him about his wish. I was the one who staged the meet, being the chairman of selectors, and it was purely to understand what was running in his mind. It was a good thing to do. It did not happen in one day, one month or one year, it took two long years. Sachin retired in 2013. The meeting in Nagpur was just to ask his plans. Sachin wanted to concentrate more on Test cricket. So, it was decided that he would retire from One-day cricket. He called me and Sanjay Jagdale (then BCCI secretary). Then it was collectively decided that he would retire from ODIs.”
