The heroics of Tendulkar

The seventh ODI at Lord's may have been Sachin Tendulkar's final international appearance in England. The Guardian's Vic Marks looks back at the last two months and believes Tendulkar's mortality has been evident through the tour.

He has been mildly heroic on this tour without playing one of his monumental innings. In the Tests he batted like a mortal, grafting away, eking out his runs slowly and for the team. He fielded at first slip rather than patrolling the third man boundary, which used to be his custom.

He has been more fluent in the one-day series, his stroke-play more impish. Yesterday, he had the audacity to back away to the leg side against Flintoff before twice scything the ball over cover fieldsmen. Yet, even in this shorter form of the game, his mortality has been all too evident, not from the way he has batted but due to the onset of cramp to his fingers or legs. His body is starting to rebel.

But David Gower sees no reason why Tendulkar should retire from one-day cricket. He writes in the Times:

Some batsmen find it hard to change their method as the years progress. The realistic among them acknowledge that there are new ways one has to learn to make runs when one’s youthful vigour has departed.

That innings [at Trent Bridge] was enough to convince me that Tendulkar has it within him to continue for a while yet, even though we should not expect to see him back here in 2011, when India tour next.