It was 2012. The legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar was seen struggling. Just a year ago, he had won the 2011 ODI World Cup with the team, and after that, things didn't seem to go in his favour. He had smashed 560 runs after playing in eight Test matches in England and Australia, where he had scored four half-centuries, even though the Indian team had lost both the Test series by 4-0, and he was under immense pressure to score his 100th century. And then, when England had defeated India in a home Test series, his form dipped again as he had scored just 112 runs after playing in four matches at a poor average of 18.6.

At the same time, his fellow teammates with whom he had played for India for years retired one by one, like Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. And that's why everyone thought that the next player to retire would be Tendulkar himself.

And that's when Sandip Patil, who was the then-chairman of the selection committee, had a tough conversation with Tendulkar. Tendulkar, who was Indian cricket's backbone for more than 20 years, was inching closer towards the fag end of his career. He was 39 years old at that time and didn't have much cricket left in him, and since the youngsters were also waiting for their chance, Patil was well aware of the fact that the time had come to have that conversation with the legendary cricketer.

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“I remember the last day of the Nagpur Test when we lost to England in 2012. My fellow selector, Rajendra Singh Hans, and I went to the ACU (Anti-Corruption Unit) to seek permission to meet Sachin Tendulkar. We obtained the manager's permission and invited Tendulkar. I asked him, as the chairman, ‘What are your plans?’ The selection committee had decided that his contributions were not helping the team. The entire country turned against me, but we never gave him up. He announced his retirement from ODIs first and then Tests,” Sandip Patil was quoted as saying on Vicky Lalwani's podcast.

Tendulkar shocked

“He was surprised and rightfully so. He said Why?’ I said the committee felt we needed to look at your replacement, and he was shocked. He called me again and asked, ‘Are you serious?’ I said, yes. Later, when he decided to retire, he even called me and said, ‘Sandy, I am announcing my retirement.' I feel sad that we had to take such a harsh decision. But look at the player who came in – Ajinkya Rahane," he added.

Patil emphasised that after his discussion, Tendulkar informed him that he wanted to continue playing. But after a week, he retired from the 50-over format, just a few days before the three-match ODI series against arch-rival Pakistan. Tendulkar then played only in the longest format for a year but failed to repeat the heroics that made him the God of cricket. Despite India winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 4-0 against Australia in 2013, he scored just 192 runs at an average of 31, with his highest individual score of 81.

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After three months, Tendulkar also announced his retirement from the IPL, and then retired from the longest format by playing in his farewell Test series against the West Indies in India. He ended his international career after scoring 34000 runs and became the first player to have played in 200 Test matches.