New Delhi: Amidst the growing clamour for Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement, former India skipper Anil Kumble hit out at critics questioning the veteran batsman’s place in the team, saying he should be left alone and given the “emotional space” and respect he deserves.
Kumble, on Thursday, said that Tendulkar needs to be supported.
“There have been instances when he has been the sole reason for India’s wins, but he has never been the sole reason for India’s losses. It’s best to leave it to him to deal with what is in front of him now, because no one else has been in his position. Let’s not jump the gun, let’s give the man the respect he deserves,” Kumble wrote in a magazine column.
“For 23 years, he has helped people dream, he has made them feel better emotionally. More’s the reason why we need to give him his emotional space now,” he wrote.
“This is the time for him to be left alone. He is such a great player that he doesn’t need anyone else’s advice on how to score runs. He just needs people to back off and allow him to work out what he needs to return to run-scoring ways, which I am confident he will.”
Kumble said that it’s not only Tendulkar who is going through a bad phase but the whole Test team and implying that the team is doing badly because of Tendulkar is unfair.
“For the first time, people are questioning his place in the team. The expectations are that he should retire because his performances over the last year or so haven’t matched the standards he has set [himself].
“If you look at the overall picture, the team has struggled in Test cricket, so are we suggesting that India are still a one-man army, still dependent on Sachin? I think not,” he said. (PTI)