Tendulkar not bothered by talk of his retirement

Sachin Tendulkar may not be in the best of form of late, but the senior India batman says he is not bothered by what people have to say about his retirement.

"Lots of people have been talking about this question (of retirement). If I remember correctly, this question began in 2005 and it has been continuing since then. But my answer has been I will stick to my job and you stick to your job," he said, at the launch of India's first e-newspaper, www.enewspaperofindia.com.

"It does not affect me," replied Tendulkar, when asked whether the constant talk of when he will retire irritates him or affects his performance.

Tendulkar insisted that he is not bothered by others' opinion.

"People are free to give their opinions. Lots of people are giving opinions about me. Some have played the game and they were giving opinions. Some have not played the game and they are also giving opinions. But I don't worry about opinions," he said.

"It's a package deal. You won't score a hundred every time you go out to bat. And, like that, you won't get positive comments all the time. So I can't control on what others say. What I can do is to just focus on the things I can handle... that is to play to the best of my ability," he added.

Tendulkar said his family does not discuss cricket, so the game is not at the centre of things in his household.

"We don't discuss cricket in our family. Our family discuss other issues of the day, but not cricket. When I want to discuss cricket, I do it with my brother," said Tendulkar, who is now a Rajya Sabha member.

Tendulkar was taking part in a discussion after the launch of the e-newspaper in the presence of Minister of Communication and Information Technology Kapil Sibal and Minister of Information and Broadcasting Manish Tewari.

Tendulkar talked about how the media speculated on his 100th international century after he scored his 99th ton during the 2011 World Cup.

"It was the media doing all the build-up. I scored my 99th international hundred during the World Cup. You (media) kept quiet during the World Cup, not discussing about my 100th ton, as there were other more important matters of India winning the tournament. After the World Cup there was again this focus on my 100th international ton," he said.

Asked about the likes of former captains Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and V V S Laxman giving opinions about him, though not necessarily negative, Tendulkar asked, "You think they were talking wrong things about me?"

Tendulkar, one of the most-followed celebrities in the social media space, with 3.2 million people following his Twitter handle, said he is happy to be able to raise money for charity through this platform.

"Actually, I started this Twitter handle after my friends told me that there were many fake accounts in my name telling things which I have not said and done. To stop all those things I started my Twitter account.

"But, the platform of social media served a very good purpose. Through that I was able to raise money for young cancer patients.

"Lots of people donated money for these children after reading my appeal on my Twitter account. I thanked all those who have made the donations," he said.