OMGSACHIN: Sachin is the most experienced cricketer on the planet : Kris Srikkanth

Outgoing chairman of selectors Kris Srikkanth on Tuesday said India’s star cricketer Sachin Tendulkar knows the best when to retire, adding that the team needs his presence.

“Sachin knows when to retire. He is someone who is special. Someone who scores 100 centuries at the highest level... doubting his abilities is wrong judgment.

“The team needs Tendulkar to guide the youngsters in the next couple of Test series at home. He is the most experienced cricketer on the planet. He knows what he is doing,” Srikkanth said.

Srikkanth, whose tenure as Indian chief selector is about to end, says the World Cup win last year was his biggest achievement.

“In 2008 when I took over, I didn't have enough experience as selector. In end-2009 when Sri Lanka were touring India, this committee started planning for the World Cup. I was a member of the 1983 World Cup-winning team and that helped.

“I consider myself fortunate to be a part of the planning process. The presence of Yashpal Sharma, who was also a winning member of the 1983 team, also helped. The likes of Hirawani, Bhave and Raja Venkat were excellent co-selectors. Jimmy Amarnath's presence in the committee was extremely helpful. If India win the T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka, it will be a perfect sign off,” he was quoted as sayibg by the Times of India.

However, the former cricketer says India’s loss against Australia and England were the lowest points.

“We had a great opportunity to win a Test series in Australia earlier this year. Unfortunately, we lost all the matches. I strongly believe that the first one or two matches of a series are very crucial. It can go either way if a team fails to grab opportunities.

“In both England and Australia, we had opportunities to come back into the series but let the opposition off the hook,” he said.

Srikkanth believes Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the best man to lead India and the team thrives under him.

“Dhoni is a good captain. Under him, we do have losses, but overall he has done well. The team responds well to his captaincy and he gets the players to rally around him,” he said.

Srikkanth said the selection panel under him has nothing to do with the retirements of as many as four India senior cricketers during their tenure.

“It's true that four senior cricketers retired during my tenure, but it's their decision. We can't force anyone to retire. I haven't forced anyone to retire. You have to respect their decisions. The process of rebuilding is never-ending and a particular group of selectors have nothing to do with these decisions,” he said.

Srikkanth said Virat Kohli’s has improved many folds and whether he is pushed forward to lead India in future, is something that the next selection panel will decide.

Talking about Yuvraj Singh, Srikkanth said, “Yuvraj was the star of the 2011 World Cup. His fitness certificates were produced in the selection meeting and so there was no question of ignoring him."