NEW DELHI (AP) – Cricket great Sachin Tendulkar considered early retirement after a string of losses while India’s captain, according to excerpts from the record-holding batsman’s upcoming autobiography.
“I hated losing and as captain of the team I felt responsible for the string of miserable performances. More worryingly, I did not know how I could turn it around, as I was already trying my absolute best,” Tendulkar wrote in extracts of the book Playing It My Way, published by the Press Trust of India today.
The 41-year-old made particular mention of his frustrations on the 1997 tour of the West Indies, when India lost the third Test in Barbados from a comfortable position. Chasing 120, India were bowled out for 81 with only makeshift opener V.V.S. Laxman reaching double-figures with 19.
India, which lost the five-Test series 1-0, went on to lose a subsequent four-match ODI series 3-1 with a similar result in the third One-Day game in St Vincent when India lost despite needing only 47 runs off ten overs with six wickets in hand.
“It was hurting me badly and it took me a long time to come to terms with these failures. I even contemplated moving away from the sport completely, as it seemed nothing was going my way,” Tendulkar has written in the book which is set to be released on Thursday.
Tendulkar retired from the game last year with most major batting records against his name. He amassed a record 15 921 runs with 51 centuries in 200 Tests and 18 426 runs with 49 centuries in 463 one-dayers but did not have a good record as captain.
He led India in 25 Tests, winning four games, losing nine and drawing 12. In ODIs, he won just 23 of 73 matches he captained with 43 lost, six no results and one tie.
Tendulkar said his wife supported him when things were “starting to get on top” of him.
“Anjali, as usual, managed to put things in perspective and assured me that things would surely get better in the months to come. Looking back, it was just frustration getting the better of me,” Tendulkar wrote.
Tendulkar, who was part of the Indian World Cup teams that made the final in 2003 and triumphed in 2011 at home, never led in a World Cup.
