No plans to retire while on top: Sachin Tendulkar

Despite having reached the much-awaited milestone of a hundred international centuries, India’s veteran batsman Sachin Tendulkar has no intentions of bowing out of the game anytime soon.

The 38-year-old insisted that in his recent form, he was confident in his ability to contribute substantially to the team, adding that it would be self-centered of him to retire when he still had the potential to add to the national squad.

“My belief is that if I feel I can contribute, I am mentally there where I feel I am bringing value to the team, then I should be playing. It's a very selfish thought that when you are at the top, you should retire,” Tendulkar claimed. “When you are at the top, you should serve the nation.”

“When I feel I am not in a frame of mind to contribute to the nation, that's when I should retire and not when somebody says. It's a selfish statement that one should retire on top,” he added.

The Little Master went on to add that the past year had been one of the toughest phases in his life, as he was under enormous pressure to score his 100th century.

However, as the batsman pointed out, centuries cannot be scored at will. As the hype grew, Sachin’s performances dimmed. His last century had been scored against South Africa in the 2011 World Cup, and his recent scores ranged from 3 to 14. He also became the target of a rotation policy which dictated that the three senior players on the squad would be interchanged between matches, but this was shelved in the latter stages of the Commonwealth Bank series in Australia.

The historic moment finally arrived in the Asia Cup match against Bangladesh on March 16, when Sachin managed to score a 114 off 147 balls, bringing the frenzied speculation to an end.

In addition to his 100 centuries, the batsman also holds the all-time record for most runs in ODIs (18374) and Test matches (15470).

Despite his record-breaking century, Sachin’s efforts were in vain, as India recently conceded a shocking 5-wicket defeat to Bangladesh. The Men In Blue have another chance, albeit one that involves massive amounts of pressure, as they prepare for a match against historic rivals Pakistan, due to kick off at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on March 18.