London, Sep 06: Sachin Tendulkar on Thursday categorically dismissed speculation about his retirement from one-day cricket, saying he was "batting brilliantly" at the moment and even the thought of quitting had not crossed his mind.
The 34-year-old Tendulkar said that he was enjoying the game very much and hoped to continue playing as long as he could.
"I am batting brilliantly at the moment. Even the thought of retirement has not crossed my mind," Tendulkar said.
"I am still enjoying the game very much and want to play for as long as I can. Cricket means a lot to me," he said.
Tendulkar has hit a purple patch with scores of 99, 93, 99, 94 on the ongoing tour of United Kingdom to silence some of his critics who had not only questioned his form but also advised him to retire.
Tendulkar`s clarification finally put an end to the speculation about his possible retirement from the shorter version of the game, which possibly stemmed from his recent
interview to a leading British newspaper.
In the interview to `The Times`, the champion batsman had admitted for the first time that his long recovery time after one-day matches was creating an "obstacle" for him.
"It does take its toll on the body. When you are 22 or 23, you recover a lot more quickly. But at 34, it`s not so easy," he was quoted as saying by the paper.
Tendulkar, however, has recently opted out of the upcoming Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa.
Sachin Tendulkar`s wife, Anjali, on Thursday refuted media reports of her husband`s plan to retire from ODI cricket after the conclusion of home series against Pakistan and Australia.
"If Sachin was to retire, he would have told us first. Had Sachin had been retiring, we would have been watching the match," Anjali said.
A Marathi newspaper first reported that the Master Blaster had told his close pals, a month ago about his plan to quit the shorter version of cricket, so as to concentrate more on Tests.
It was reported that Tendulkar admitted in front of his friends that "though his mind was as enthusiastic as ever, his body wasn`t coping well with the frenetic nature of one-day cricket."
A national daily carried out the English translation of the report on its front page , a day after Sachin was chosen the Man of the Match for his brilliant knock of 94 that catapulted India to a nail biting victory against England at the Brit Oval.
In his 18-year-old career Sachin, 34, has set new records and collected over 15,000 runs with his record 41 centuries.
However, his career is staggered with incidents of injury and fitness problems.
Bureau Report
