Feeling has not sunk in yet: Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar said he may have stopped playing physically for the country but he would always remain an Indian cricketer at heart. The 40-year-old bowed out to a frenetic goodbye from his home crowd in Mumbai after playing in his 200th and final Test against the West Indies, which India won by an innings and 126 runs inside three days. Sporting a Team India blazer and tie, Tendulkar appeared relaxed after a slow start to the morning, when he fixed himself a cup of tea and had breakfast with wife Anjali. Tendulkar had woken up at 6.50 AM in his first morning as a former cricketer before realising there were no more matches to be played and all his time could now belong to the family. But after 24 years as an India cricketer, getting used to a different life won't be easy. "I will not play anymore cricket and that feeling has not sunk in yet. Maybe I will somehow manage to play some cricket somewhere (laughs) but yes, it was an emotional moment as my team-members gave me that sendoff. Playing for cricket and that too for 24 years was the most important for me. "In those 24 years, I faced different challenges but the desire to play for the country was really strong. I got a lot of support from family, friends and coaches to find solutions for different challenges.It has been a dream journey," Tendulkar said in his first press conference as a former India cricketer. However, the man who virtually owns every batting record said he had no regrets about retiring because he knew it was the right time to "stop playing." Tendulkar hinted that he would be associated with cricket post retirement even if that did not happen immediately. Even as the whole nation remained in the grip of a mass hysteria over his exit, the highest run scorer in both Tests and ODIs insisted he could never stop being an India player, at least emotionally. "Even though physically I will not play for India anymore, I will always be an India player in my heart. Whenever India participates in any field, the country comes first and then the rest." There seem to be no end to expectations from Tendulkar even as he prepares for a less frenzied life with demands for him to remain associated with cricket in some form or the other. Will he open a cricket academy? Will he nurture the next generation of cricketers? Will he look at coaching? "It is a nice thought to be involved with cricket but I have spent time with youngsters even before I retired. It's just that I have never made these things public but I have thoroughly enjoyed those interactions either at the domestic level or with the under age teams. I would like to help youngsters but I might want to keep it low profile," Tendulkar told a packed media room. Tendulkar had endeared himself to fans across the globe with his childlike exuberance and he said that was a natural part of his being as he had spent 75 percent of his life playing cricket. In another brilliant public interaction after a stirring farewell speech, Tendulkar gave a further insight into his personality, defending with a straight bat to tricky questions about the possible impact he might make a politician on cricket. "It has just been 24 hours since I retired. Give me time to breathe and then we will talk about it later," said a tongue-in-cheek Tendulkar. Tendulkar reiterated that the decision to retire was rather easy because he was sure that the end had come. Despite a vintage 74 that brought back memories of a 16-year-old Tendulkar pulverizing a potent English swing attack in Manchester, the retired batsman said he was convinced he had timed his exit perfectly. "I enjoyed my last innings but honestly I had always maintained that I will stop playing cricket the moment I felt I wasn't enjoying it. I had to overcome plenty of injuries and that was not easy. You reach a stage in life when you know that you have had enough of this physical load and it is time to take rest. "My training sessions were becoming an effort. That raised some questions for me and when I tried to look for answers, I knew it was time," Tendulkar said. The only man to play 200 Tests also traveled down time to reflect on a phase of serious injuries that had threatened to end his career as early as 2004: "Injuries were always a difficult time. They were not common injuries and to overcome them and play again was not easy. I had to set goals different time. If the recovery time was three months, it wasn't that you could go to the gym and make sure you are ready in two-and-a-half months. "When you suffer injuries, nature plays an important part in resurrecting the body so it was important to respect nature. I took four and a half months to recover from my tennis elbow but I could not play like before even when I wanted to. I thought my career was over and I would not able to be pick up a bat again. I could not even pick up Arjun's plastic bat. The pressure I felt then was completely different," Tendulkar said.