Posting a comment on -

Originally posted on Saturday, February 11, 2006

http://salilb.blogspot.com/2006/02/sachin-and-his-last-25-tests-time-has.html

The million dollar question to ask is - can his replacement average 47-dot-something over a period of 24 tests - playing against minnows or no minnows?
It's very clear and is there for everyone to see that he's a less effective batsman than he was 5 years ago, but still he isn't crap. Everyone would love to replace Sachin at 33 with Sachin at 28, but is Mohd. Kaif at 25 good enough to replace Sachin at 33?
The answer is we will not know unless we see it. I still would think that the answer is no. We have 2 options - drop Sachin at 33 and try Kaif at 25, or keep on trying Sachin at 33 and see who can get closer to Sachin at 28. Currently they are trying the latter option with some justification. Let's see where it leads for some more time. The decision they have to make is what should this time be. I would say World Cup 2007.
And I really don't see any point, getting into Sachin's shoes, that he should play any ODIs after he returns from the Caribbean in 2007. He has got nothing left to achieve in ODIs.