Legends of the Fall: Legions want Pacquaio, Tendulkar to quit

Cricket and boxing may be two entirely different disciplines, but Sachin Tendulkar and Manny Pacquiao have one important thing in common.

They enjoy iconic status not only in their home countries but around the world as two of the greatest sports stars in the 21st century.

We should consider ourselves fortunate to be living in an era when Tendulkar and Pacquaio graced the sporting arena.

All good things, unfortunately, have to come to an end.

This is the dilemma faced by fans who used to hero worship the two sporting legends who are at a critical juncture in their glittering careers.

Their phenomenal achievements are in danger of being cancelled out by their poor performances of late.

Cricket-crazy India seems to be running out of patience with Tendulkar, the only man in the history of the game to have scored a century of centuries.

Boxing superstar Pacquiao has won world titles in eight divisions and brings the nation to a standstill whenever he enters the ring.

But he suffered the ultimate humiliation of being knocked out by his great Mexican rival Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday, his second successive defeat this year.

Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has uttered the unthinkable and suggested Tendulkar should retire. 

Ganguly, who played alongside Tendulkar in the Indian side for 12 years, is the most high profile cricketing figure in India to say the Nagpur Test should be the last in the career of arguably the greatest cricketer on earth. 

Tendulkar, 39, has averaged 25 in 2012 and his innings of 76 at Eden Gardens against England was his first Test half century since January 3. 

“Sachin desperately needs to get runs,” Ganguly told an Indian television channel. “He has achieved a lot. He is getting a long rope because of what he has achieved. 

"By now he should know how to turn it around. As somebody watching it from outside, Tendulkar is not performing and I think if I were Tendulkar, I would go (retire). 

"But it’s up to him at the present moment. We want to see the great man going with a bat held high and not in terrible form.”

Pacquiao's wife Jinkee and his mother Dionisia have made a desperate plea for the former champion to hang up his gloves.

"When you see your husband get hurt, you cannot even sleep," she said in an interview on the GMA network, conducted in the United States after Saturday's Las Vegas bout.

Asked if she wanted her husband to retire from boxing, she said: "You know the answer to that. He knows what I am asking him".

Pacquiao's mother made a separate appeal on the same station.

"I have long asked you son, it is time to retire because you started boxing at such a young age. I always pray that he will stop. I asked God to tell my son to stop," she said.

Fan fare

When Emirates 24|7 interviewed a cross section of fans in the UAE, most were of the opinion that both Tendulkar and Pacquiao should quit with their heads held high.

"I feel since he has given his best, he should retire with grace. We want to remember him as a legend," Blossom Raj, an Indian housewife.

"It is time for Tendulkar to go before others ask him to," added Mohamed Lokhandwala, honorary general secretary of the Dubai Cricket Council.

A Sri Lankan fan was more compelling in arguing why Tendulkar should quit and make way for youngsters.

"My biggest concern as a cricket fan is if he would go from becoming a legend to a liability. It's absolute shame if after 23 years of high to quit on a low," said Imtiaz Zafardeen, a banker by profession.

"It's frustrating to watch him now. It is not as if he is scoring centuries like (Alastair) Cook. Look at (Ricky) Ponting, his timing (of retirement) was classic," he added.

However, there were those wanted to see Tendulkar continue playing.

"The India middle order is fickle without (VVS) Laxman and (Rahul) Dravid. We are missing them. We need Tendulkar.

“How can we forget a player like him. I think he should continue," said Mazhar Khan, a veteran cricket administrator in the UAE.

"Form in cricket is temporary, class is permanent. I thought he played a very good knock at Eden Gardens," he added.

Filipinos stunned by Pacquiao's sixth-round knockout defeat wanted him to call it quits and devote his time to serving the people.

"I think he should retire and devote time to his family.

“He is still physically fit but is busy with his involvement in politics and church work," said Michael Rubenicia who managed to watch the last two rounds of the fight.

"It's enough," said Mona Lisa, who works as a personal assistant to a CEO of legal firm in Dubai after watching a review of the fight.

"I'm not a boxing fan but I like Manny because he is a legend. But I was so devastated by his defeat, tears came in to my eyes," she said.

"He is still the best in our eyes because he has achieved so much," she added. 

American Football Hall of Famer Vince Lombardi was famously quoted as saying: "Winners never quit and quitters never win".

Even the greatest of sportsmen sometimes find it difficult to digest the fact that they are no longer at the top of the game they dominated in their prime.

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