Sachin Tendulkar dropped from the ODI team

India’s batting maestro, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, has been dropped from the India’s ODI team, for the rest of the Australian series and upcoming series against Pakistan. The shocking announcement happened after India’s crushing defeat against Australia in the fifth ODI. Tendulkar, aged 34, was the highest scorer in Indian innings in which only four batsmen reached double figures. Tendulkar scored 47 in what could possibly be his last ODI on Indian soil.

Talking to a group of reporters, in a press conference, Dilip Vengsarkar, the Cheif selector for BCCI, cited Sachin’s consistency as the reason for his exclusion from the team.

“When Sachin plays, no other player performs. Look at Twenty-Twenty tournament. There was no Sachin, and Indians batted brilliantly. Everyone need to take responsibility in Cricket, as it is a team game. With Sachin in the team, however, other players think that they do not need to perform”

Indian team’s manager Lalchand Rajput later reacted to Vengsarkar’s announcement, saying that it is unfair on the other senior players. He felt that even Ganguly and Dravid should be dropped by the same logic.

“I think it’s a wrong decision to single out Sachin as consistent performer, when we have Ganguly performing equally consistently, and Dravid has been excellent in England, too”

Sachin Tendulkar, when questioned, replied that he respects the selector’s decision.

“I’ve always had a great respect for Vengsarkar Saar”, he said, “And I’m sure he knows what works for the team. After all, this is not an individual game like Tennis or Golf”

Inside sources say that he was quite relived, that he will not have to cut down on his ads because of the string of ODIs in next few months. A close friend, on the condition of anonymity, said that the feeling in Sachin’s camp was that this unceremonious exit will actually help him get a lot of public sympathy, and help expand his advertisement portfolio.

Meanwhile, highly trusted sources revealed that Ganguly and Dravid are planning to take BCCI to court for ruining their reputation.

“It’s like, it doesn’t matter whether we’re in team or not! At least, with Sachin, people expect us to lose. But no one seems to expect anything out of us!”, Ganguly supposedly told a close friend.

Australia leads the series 3-1, after the win — a position from which they cannot lose the series. When asked for comments, Ponting said that he is impressed by the BCCI’s actions, and that they will have to really think hard about their team composition, now that Sachin is not playing. He is really upset that after spending hours and hours studying the maestro’s batting in slow motion, it’s disappointing that they won’t be playing against him after all.

“But it’s a challenge that our team is prepared for”, he said, “We’re not a number one team in both the adult forms of the game for no reason”.