Sachin Tendulkar retires from ODIs

Master batsman Sachin Tendulkar has retired from One-Day Internationals, the Board of Control for Cricket in India confirmed on Sunday.

Tendulkar spoke with BCCI president N Srinivasan and conveyed his decision to retire from the 50-over-a-side format of the game.  

His decision retire means he will not be taking any part in the forthcoming high-profile limited-overs' series against arch-rivals Pakistan.

The veteran batsman said he does not foresee himself playing in the 2015 World Cup and, hence, decided to call it quits to allow the selectors proper time to prepare for the mega event.

"I have decided to retire from the One-Day format of the game.  I feel blessed to have fulfilled the dream of being part of a World Cup-winning Indian team. The preparatory process to defend the World Cup in 2015 should begin early and in right earnest.  I would like to wish the team all the very best for the future.

" I am eternally grateful to all my well wishers for their unconditional support and love over the years," he said in a statement.

Considered the most complete batsman in modern cricket, and next only to the legendary Sir Donald Bradman, Tendulkar retires from the ODI format at the top of the run-getters' list.

He goes out after amassing 18,426 runs in 463 one-dayers, at an average of 44.83.

The diminutive right-hander scored an astonishing 49 hundreds in the format, including a double hundred -- the first in this form of the game.

Tendulkar made his ODI debut against Pakistan way back in 1989 and, interestingly, is quitting the scene just ahead of another series against the neighbours.

The Mumbaikar, who made himself unavailable for Twenty20 cricket after playing just one game in 2006, will, however, remain active in the Test arena.

The brightest moment of his ODI career was last year when he finally became part of a World Cup-winning Indian team after five previous appearances.