Sachin’s retirement

Displaying their outstanding all-round performance during the Premier League (IPL) final, the Mumbai Indians stormed to their maiden IPL title beating two-time champions Chennai Super Kings at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Sunday. Although, Sachin Tendulkar was not part of the team, as he was injured, he was found to be the most jubilant person over his side’s victory. The reception he got from the large crowd, estimated at 70,000, one could easily guess how much respect he commands from the cricket-crazy Indian fans. No doubt, he is a gentleman cricketer who deserves every bit of it. His record on and off the field is unparalleled to any past or present cricketers. When interviewed by Sunil Gavaskar, after the match, he said that he will be not taking part in the next year’s IPL and he openly confessed that he found the schedule really challenging at his age (40). This gives us a hint that this great batsman has started his retirement plan in installments, beginning with T/20. I guess we will be still seeing him in action in ODIs and Test matches for at lease some time. It was really a pleasing sight to watch him enjoying with his junior teammates and being carried by them on their shoulders while celebrating the great victory. Victim of extremism The Taleban and Al-Qaeda kill more of our Muslim brothers and sisters than any government or group. We need to fight these deviants and maintain our footing on the middle/moderate path.

Finally I would like to thank Siraj Wahab for doing a wonderful interview of the minister, covering all Indo-Saudi strategic issues and the regional politics.

A reader