Goodbye and good luck
A round-up of tributes and comments on ESPNcricinfo on Tendulkar's retirement

Indian players give Tendulkar a guard of honour • BCCI
People in the stands either wanted Tendulkar to bowl or West Indies to score a lot of runs so they could see Tendulkar bat. Before the start of the 17th over, it seemed they had had their first wish. Tendulkar went from short-fine leg towards the umpire, the crowd left their seats and began to applaud, only to see he was taking R Ashwin's cap over to the umpire. What a tease. What a ritual, though - one he had going with Anil Kumble. During Kumble's perfect ten, Tendulkar insisted he hand the bowler's cap over to the umpire. He did so before Kumble's last over in Test cricket too. Now he was beginning to do the same for Kumble's successors.
The lap of honour started form the MCA Pavilion and inched towards the Sunil Gavaskar Stand. MS Dhoni tapped on Tendulkar's shoulder telling him his team-mates would like to carry him aloft on their shoulders. Tendulkar just smiled. Enough for Dhoni and Virat Kohli to lift him up instantly. Tendulkar sat upright. Unburdened. Waving the Indian tri-colour.
Because if something doesn't happen to cricket soon, Sachin's records won't mean much. If Test cricket continues to be eaten away at, Sachin's legacy will diminish. If West Indies drop off the international cricket map, will the deeds of a teenager against them still be thought of as something amazing. If nation v nation cricket becomes little more than the odd friendly before a global tournament, why will it matter if Sachin scored a hundred international hundreds? If the T20 leagues of the world finally take over, will new fans look at Sachin's T20 career and wonder what the fuss is about? If World Cups aren't played anymore, who cares if he won one?
When people ask why all this is being done for one person, or why Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman didn't get such farewells, or why the FTP is being disrupted for one man, they are asking valid questions but ones that are irrelevant to this context. The debate about who was great and who wasn't ends here with the people. Because ultimately, this celebration is not for Sachin, it is for his devotees.