Earlier this year Sachin was being written off as an ageing liability, now many are saying that he has at least two years left in him.
The retirement debate peaked in March this year right after India's disastrous exit at the World Cup that prompted former Australian captain Ian Chappell to come out and say what very few had the courage to state.
He said Sachin was playing for all the wrong reasons and should consider quitting.
Chappell said in a column that if Sachin were to look in a mirror and asked the question;" Mirror, mirror on the wall should I retire?" The answer would be; "Yes."
Mike Atherton who once said of Sachin "I do not think even WG Grace would have played like Sachin,'' in 1998 added fuel to the fire calling Sachin's performances of 0 and 7 in India's two major defeats at the 2007 World Cup the efforts of a " comic hero".
Sachin's elbow injury and his seemingly unimpressive comeback saw former players even back home calling for his neck.
Sanjay Manjrekar accused Sachin of being afraid of failure and therefore choosing to stay out of competitions even when he was actually fit.
Over the past couple of years even the fans have been equally fickle, when it comes to their beloved Sachin.
Last year for the first time ever fans in Mumbai actually booed their "god" when he was out for one in the final Test against England, they were angry with him because he had averaged just 20 in the series.
No doubt now they will be begging him to change his mind.
The expectations from Sachin have always been larger than life, anything less than a 100 is considered a failure and yet he has tirelessly carried the burden of nearly a billion for almost 2 decades.
Sachin's decision to retire will and should be his and his alone, but sharing that inability to hold back comments on the issue, it has to be said, giving up the one-day game could extend his Test career.
Sachin, bearing the cross tirelessly
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