It was on the cards, isn't it? I would have loved to watch him retire when he was playing well. But nevertheless, there is never a bad time to end a career filled with stupendous achievements and [in his own words] a few disappointing lows.
Take a bow Rahul :)
I was watching the press meet video in NDTV and to my surprise none of the journalists asked trick questions.
Wait a minute! What happened to these people over night? Have they all changed? Did someone threaten them to keep it down?
That cant be it. Indian media playing it down. That's an OXYMORON on its own.
What if they had asked questions in their own way? What if they'd shown much more interest it to pry things down?
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As and when Rahul stepped out of the press meet, a mob of heavily built journos flocked him with their micro phones and flash lights. Rahul passed out gasping for breath. And when he regained consciousness, all he saw was gossip-hungry journalist engulfing him trying to extract the last ounce of dressing room news from him, anything that could be sensationalized, any potential breaking news item.
Rahul Dravid [R henceforth]: WTF! Why have you blind folded me? Where am I?
Journalist [J henceforth]: Listen Rahul, we played all goody-good in the official press meet only because the INSIDER from whom we have been getting all team information asked to do so. Failing which, he said, he won’t be feeding us with dressing room gossips. Boy! Was it hard or what? “Rahul, how are you planning to spend the rest of the life? What are your plans?” What kind of question is that man? And who will read our papers when we print your answers. No twists. No hidden meanings. Nothing for the public to speculate. Damn it.
R: So? What’s the need to kidnap me?
J: Rahul, don’t worry. We will not harm you. We are not going to gain anything from it. All we need is your answers. We will ask you questions and you answer them. Not just plain vanilla question but real personal googlies.
R: Do I have a choice? Go ahead. Thank god I am retired.
J: Don’t be thankful so soon. We are not done yet. So, the insider told us that you and Sachin had a long discussion. What did you discuss?
R: We discussed about my retirement. He was very supportive. *journalist interrupts*
J: Quit yanking us man. Did he say anything about his retirement? Did you ask him when he is gonna retire? Or did you ask him to retire? You know “give youngsters a chance” *all journos laugh in unison*
R: Why will I ask him to retire? He’s been playing well for the past few months. He knows when it is time. He is not a kid you know.
J: Exactly. He is not a kid and he is 39. When is he going to retire? We would like to be the first ones to break the news to the public. You needn’t give us the exact date. Just a ballpark would do. Anything. Give us anything Rahul.
R: I don’t know. May be someday. Look, retirement is something that we cannot avoid. It will happen.
J: Rahul, you don’t understand. ‘Someday’ is just NOT ENOUGH. We need a real date/month/year/time frame.
R: Listen man, don’t get upset. Alright. These days with the amount of cricket that the team plays, I guess it will be difficult for anyone to play after 40.
J: 40..! 40..! 40..!. Lovely. So he might retire in an year. Dear Public, breaking news coming right away “Sachin might retire once he celebrates his 40th birthday”.
R: What? When did I say that? I said it will be physically difficult for anyone. I meant in general.
J: Well! We’ll leave it to the public to decide. The public these days have selective vision, you know. Even though we print other stuff in the print media only words such as ‘Sachin’, ‘40’ and ‘retire’ will get their attention. These are tips and tricks of the trade. I can’t reveal more. *all journos laugh in unison*
J: Did the BCCI force you to retire? The insider said so and even the press, along with the public were hell bent in bringing at least one of the seniors down. As usual, you were their scapegoat. Isn’t it?
R: What? No! No! It was my own decision to call it a day. Nobody forced me.
J: What if they had asked you to step down? Would you listen to them?
R: No! I don’t think the team has any part to do in a player’s individual life.
J: So you won’t respect your team mates suggestion. Man you are egoistic.
R: No! I dint mean it that way. Even though they have a suggestion to offer, retiring or not retiring is totally up to the individual.
J: What if Sachin had asked you to step down?
R: Sachin is a reasonable man. He would never do such a thing.
J: Come on. Hypothetically, let’s assume Sachin asked you to retire? What would you do?
R: In that case, I still stand by my words. It’s up to the individual.
J: So, you won’t listen to Sachin. A man who has played international cricket for more than 20 yrs, a man who is believed to the God of Indian Cricket. You won’t listen to him. Man! you are so dead. Dear public, breaking news 2 coming right away – "Rahul says, what Sachin thinks about his professional/personal life is immaterial to him. Possible rift between the two?"
R: What? When did I ever say that?
J: What you say doesn’t matter. At the end, what we write only matters and it is the one which the public get to read.
J: Enough about Sachin. Let’s talk a bit about your buddy, VVS. When is he gonna retire?
R: Faints again.
~ cheers.!