Sachin Tendulkar responds to Ian Chappell's comments on retired cricketers

Tendulkar wants to see cricket as the most popular sport globally

Sachin Tendulkar has countered Ian Chappell’s comment on retired cricketers by saying that retirement does not mean one will never pick up a bat again. Chappell had recently commented on the upcoming Cricket All Stars 2015 tournament saying that nobody would be interested in watching retired cricketers play.

In a video on ESPNcricinfo, the former Australian skipper had said, “ I've always thought that the reason for retiring is that you wanted to stop playing. The other thing I don't understand is why people want to watch older cricketers.”

Cricket’s Master Blaster replied to this statement while speaking to TOI saying, “The reason for stopping cricket is because you cannot be competitive at that level but that does not mean you stop enjoying cricket. This is what we are doing, we are enjoying cricket. Once you retire it does not mean you never pick up a cricket bat again.” Tendulkar added, “People will always have opinions, it does not mean it is the right opinion.” According to him, this tournament will not only be fun for the former cricketers but will also inspire others to learn the game.

Sachin, who is in New York for the Cricket All Stars 2015 tournament, expressed his desire to make cricket the most popular sport worldwide. "People have opinions that there should be less teams. But we need to find a solution and work towards it together to make cricket a global sport and not have just 8-12 countries compete all the time and be happy with that," he said.

Tendulkar believes that it is high time to work towards making cricket a global sport, considering the fact that only nine to twelve countries have participated in Cricket World Cup since this tournament’s inception in 1975.

The Twenty20 series which is Sachin and Shane Warne’s brainchild is a step towards this goal. Cricket All Stars 2015 will see 28 retired cricket greats including Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Muttiah Muralitharan, Brian Lara Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar. The three matches will be played in New York, Houston and Los Angeles.

Sachin's Blasters will face Warne's Warriors for the first match at the 45,000 seater Citi field on November 7.