Sachin Tendulkar turned 40 on Wednesday and for a country obsessed with numbers, this is good enough reason to discuss his future. Not that he needs our opinion but we are happy to give it anyway.

So, here is my two penny worth of commentary on the Master Blaster. Age is just a number, especially when it is about one as incredibly fit as he.

The cricket archives will tell you that there were older cricketers such as W. G. Grace, Frank Woolley and Jack Hobbs who played into their late 40s, and pretty well at that. From my generation, I can recall the former West Indian great, Clive Lloyd, who had entered his 41st year when he called it quits.

In fact, “Supercat” offered to relinquish captaincy after his team’s shock defeat to India in the 1983 World Cup finals. He was pushing 39 then but was persuaded to continue. And, boy, did he smack the daylights out of us when the West Indians visited us some months later.

Lloyd was at his best in Ahmedabad and Kolkata when he pulled his team out of the woods with two sparkling tons. He was again the top scorer for the West Indies in his last Test a couple of years later (this time against Australia) except that it was for a losing cause.

Sachin, likewise, knows best when to call it a day. He has already been around for nearly a quarter of a century and broken every record in the game. And when he chooses to hang up his boots, there is a far more exciting career waiting for him in television. He only needs to look at former colleagues like Sanjay Manjrekar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid to realise how much he has to offer as an expert in the game.

The man best equipped to counsel him is Sunil (Sunny) Gavaskar who comes from the same competitive arena of Mumbai cricket. He played till he was 38 and his last Test innings in 1987 is spoken of almost reverentially even today. The Little Master showcased his unique talent when he stood up to Pakistan’s spinners on a treacherous track in Bangalore to score a masterly 96.

Gavaskar did not confine his skills to the field and, even during his playing days, tried his hand at writing books including the still-talked-about Sunny Days . His biography by Dom Moraes is a must-read for cricket aficionados.

After his retirement, Gavaskar anchored TV shows on cricket which were hugely popular then. At 63 plus, he is still one of the best known faces on television whose views are valued and respected. Come to think of it, he has spent time far more actively since his retirement 26 years ago and is only getting better by the day!

Is there a better inspiration for Sachin than one of India’s top icons in the game?

He continues to make news as recently as a week ago – when former English umpire Dickie Bird included him in his list of the Dream XI in cricket.

Sachin, similarly, is a towering brand, who is virtually worshipped across the world.

Like Sunny, he can bring in those valuable insights for TV viewers who will lap up every word he utters.

Well, there is still some time off for all that. Personally, I would be delighted to see the Master Blaster end his career on a high.

And it does not have to be another ton. After all, he was two short of this mark in the semi-finals against Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup but that assault still remains fresh in everyone’s memory.

Sachin is one of the best things to happen in cricket and it his passion that has kept him going so far. There is no reason for him to slam the brakes once he is done playing. After all, life begins after 40, a living example of that is his senior Mumbai counterpart and India’s best opener.

>murali.gopalan@thehindu.co.in

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