couldn't resist the temptation of putting forth my 2 unwanted cents here. let me make my stance clear first off. to all the die hard tendulkar fans here: i am, by no means, trying to offend you folks! no matter how long he's' gonna play from now on, tendulkar will be remembered as one of the greatest batsmen world has ever seen, period! when he beat the crap out of aussies TWICE in the 98 sharjah cup tournament: first in the crunch qualifying match and then in the final afterwards, i was one among millions of his supporters who applauded him for his classy and gutsy performance. i used to like him before that but i became an instant fan of his after that coz it was one heck of a show! BUT there are few things that one needs to look into when analyzing a performer- a player of this game called cricket. when one speaks of a player, he/she has to come out of prejudices for or against the player just because you love or hate the team he plays for. that said, i would like to put forth my take on cricket in general and tendulkar: 1) cricket is not just a physical game but MORE importantly a mental battle. 2) as much as strongly talented/skillful, a player also needs to be MENTALLY STOUT to deliver at the top-notch level. i hope folks, who know this game, will agree with me on this. there is no doubt that tendulkar is one of the best batsmen in terms of skill/talent. there are very few players who can play all the shots around the wicket as efficiently as tendulkar does. if you ask me personally, i haven't seen anyone else in today's generation, who has all the shots in his armories and can play all of them as equally well as does tendulkar! so why is that he's not been able to perform to his level lately? 1) mental strength is where he lags big time behind other class players. he is NOT rigid mentally. his inability to deliver in crunch/pressure matches is it's evidence. i mean c'mon, forget about the legends with the likes of viv richards or gary sobers or brian lara for that matter, but let's look at some of the australian players like matt hayden or ricky ponting. technically speaking, matt hayden is no where near tendulkar. he does not play too many shots behind the wicket or square of the wicket for that matter coz his strength lies in playing in front of the wicket, means, he is not all that good a player for horizontal shots. BUT, he is one of the key match winners for aussies for the last few years, because he is mentally very very tough. in form or out of form, he does not allow bowlers to take over him. he always looks for forcing the issue to the bowlers. that requires a lot of mental rigidity. tendulkar lacks it big time! 2) back problem, elbow injury and other physical injuries/weaknesses that he suffered from in the past few years, has considerably cut down his ability to play many shots -- hook or pull shots being the major ones. he is NO MORE the same tendulkar that he used to be. 3) tendulkar is still young-- age-wise alright, but, for someone who's played CONTINUOUSLY for the last 17/18 years, it's very hard to cope up with the physical and mental condition at the status quo. physical deterioration is inevitable and he is just a normal human being--NO GOD! so, because of all these reasons, tendulkar has lost his superior form somewhat permanently to say the least. he may be able to play for few more years, but his best time has gone. his fans should know this. i love the game and love this gentleman called tendulkar for his skill and sportsmanship, but every good thing comes to and end and sadly but truly he's on the verge of termination. let's accept this reality. LooTe