A few days after chief selector Sandeep Patil clarified that that he hadn't any chat with Sachin Tendulkar over his future plans, the BCCI too made it clear that the ball rests firmly in the maestro's court.

"The chairman has disclosed that he hasn't spoken to Sachin in 10 months. If the media speculates' it is not important for the selector to issue clarification," said BCCI game development officer Ratnakar Shetty, when quizzed about the confusion, at an event to announce the launch of the Coca-Cola Cricket Cup U-16 tournament.

Shetty then went on to say that the decision should be left to Tendulkar himself. "There have been so many debates on this. No one else is better than him to talk about his retirement. He has been playing international cricket for the last 21 years. This debate (about his retirement) has been going on since 2007. We don't have to discuss this. Till the time he can play cricket and give his services to India, let us all enjoy that," said Shetty.

With Tendulkar having failed to score a hundred in his last 21 Tests, there is a school of thought that believes that the 40-year-old's reputation is weighing heavily over his scratchy form. Shetty doesn't want the media to think along those lines. "I don't think the media has got a right to discuss this. The BCCI has got selectors to decide that. You aren't the right persons to decide whether his status is greater than his form," he said.

Meanwhile, three talented cricketers, Shivam Chauhan and Vikas Dixit (both from Delhi), and Pranjul Puri (Indore ), were recently trained in England at the Merchant Taylor' School in Hertfordshire' as part of the Coca-Cola-Procam initiative.

Mumbai youngster Sarfaraz Khan, who scored 55 in India's 148-run win over Zimbabwe on Tuesday, was awarded a special prize of Rs 1 lakh by the organisors for showing special potential.


Sachin Tendulkar More Stills


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