Friday 11 October 2013 09:17, UK
Sachin Tendulkar has announced that he will retire from international cricket after making his 200th Test appearance next month.
BCCI president N. Srinivasan led the tributes to Tendulkar, hailing him as "the greatest cricketer India has produced". "I have been an ardent follower and admirer of Sachin Tendulkar from the days he came to play Buchi Babu in Chennai," he said in a statement. "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." Shane Warne also responded to the news on Twitter and said: "Sachin was easily the best player over the last 20 years & will be remembered as one of the all time greats!" Muttiah Muralitharan, who is still the leading wicket-taker in both Tests and ODIs, was also quick to pay tribute to a player with whom he had many battles over the years. "I think it's a bad day for Indian cricket, world cricket as well," he said. Former India captain Sourav Ganguly told NDTV: "At the age of 14, all he knew was batting and he would bat all day; the coach would actually have to pull him out of the nets. "I think that's the reason he has been successful. It's not just the talent he was born with but what he did with it."
