MUMBAI: For a couple of years now,
there has been endless speculation on Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement from
the game. From eyesight getting poor to the body giving way and reflexes not
being the same, almost everything has been predicted about the little
man’s cricket even as he continues to get better with time.

Till today, there’s still talk about his immediate future. For
starters, is he playing the 2011 World Cup? None other than BCCI president
Shashank Manohar took the initiative to spell it out that it is “Tendulkar who
will win the 2011 World Cup for India”.

Manohar spoke to TOI about
Tendulkar’s achievements, after he recently completed 20 years playing the
game at the highest level. “The greatest thing about Tendulkar is his down to
earth behaviour. It is the combination of his humility and passion for the game
that has helped him survive for two decades,” Manohar
said.

Where are the
sponsors?

The BCCI has kept November 24 as the deadline to
receive global bids to sponsor four of its national teams and also the national
men’s and women’s apparel sponsorship. The existing deal for the
national team sponsorship are held with Sahara India Parivar (Rs 400 crore
approx for four years) which ends in March 2010.

The apparel deal
with Nike ends around the same time too. However, with exactly a week to go
before the Board goes any further, TOI has learnt that the response for the
apparel sponsorship in particular has been very weak.

Nike had bought
the rights previously for around $42m (Rs 197 crore), a figure that most in the
industry believe is very high. The BCCI is tightlipped on the issue for
now.

BCCI sold the bid documents at Rs five lakh a copy which was
“non-refundable and non-adjustable”, as per the tender notice. The bidding
process ends at 5 pm on November 24 and the board has reserved its right to
“cancel or amend the entire bidding process at any stage and to reject any and
all bids without providing any reason.”