Finally we witnessed the day when we the tears could not be held back, no I did not mean the unofficial retirement of Uday Chopra from Bollywood, it is the official retirement of the Master Blaster from One Day International cricket. 'Sir' Sachin finally made the call which millions of his fans dreaded he would. Alas ODI cricket is now an orphan.
On the other side, everyone's Facebook & Twitter timelines were flooded with Sachin Tendulkar verbal memorabilia. Right from tribute videos to pictures of you with him, his autograph, his family, his dog (if any), his gardener, his dhobi etc were doing the rounds. There were wisecracks and small puns a plenty. Right from politicians to Page 3 celebs all were dragged into the same tweet or status update to make the pun even more tangy. Those politicians and Page 3 celebs felt good for a change after being put in the same line. I think a tear just rolled down Manmohan Singh's cheek there !!!
Thats just a one day effect on the social platforms, but what about the world at large ?
Has the money churning machine for many a corporates and even the BCCI result into huge losses or lack of revenue !!
The decision of retirement from one-day cricket will set the stage for a new phase in the life cycle of one of India's most iconic celebrity brands. As his form has dipped in the past few months, many big brands and consumer goods companies have dropped Sachin or significantly reduced the number of his television advertisement spots from their media plans. At present, Tendulkar is the face for about 17 brands and earns between Rs 5 crore and Rs 8 crore per brand annually. Many of his endorsement contracts are set to expire between now and 2014.
Theories have already started that owing to the Master's retirement he will not be a hit among the products targeted towards the youth and would fit the bill with the more matured banking and financial products. So get set to see Tendulkar sell insurance products for Aviva more than bubblegum and biscuits for ITC. Whatever the pundits say, he is and always will be a hit among the millions of fans and yeah the BCCI too for the following reason:
In the mean time, Mr. Sachin Tendulkar will get back to spending more time in many of his other businesses. First of which is the family, and next is his political family. Being a Rajya Sabha MP is no small task and surrounded by the 'Lords' from the Parliament makes it even harder. We all pity his plight. And yes, there is some cricket to look forward to as well. His heart Mumbai is calling for his services against Services. That wordplay came out well !! Pheww !!
There are many other options for the Little Master post his complete retirement. There is commentary where he can again end a few careers there too. Then there is umpiring and even cricket coaching. Away from cricket the master can look forward to benefitting the society and starting his cricket themed restaurants again or start his own merchandising. Or he could just leave this to the Kohlis n Sharmas of this world and concentrate on what he does best - Play Cricket. But yes there is this one additional responsibility, Play God !!
