Sachin Tendulkar reveals how Viv Richards convinced him not to retire in 2007

India were ousted from the 2007 World Cup after losses to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and the Rahul Dravid-side copped a lot of criticism.

Batting icon Sachin Tendulkar revealed on Sunday how a 45-minute-long phone conversation with West Indies legend Viv Richards convinced him not to retire from the game back in 2007.

File image of Sachin Tendulkar (Getty Images)

India were ousted from the 2007 World Cup after losses to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and the Rahul Dravid-side copped a lot of criticism. Sachin too did not have an entirely memorable tournament as he could manage only 64 runs in 3 matches. This convinced him to call it quits from the game and step away.

“I felt that was it. At that stage, a lot of things happening around Indian cricket were not at all healthy. We needed some changes and I felt if those changes did not happen then I was going to quit cricket. I was almost 90 percent sure of quitting cricket. But my brother told me in 2011 there is World Cup final in Mumbai, can you imagine holding that beautiful trophy in your hand?” Tendulkar said in London to India Today.

“After that I went away to my farmhouse and that is when I got a call from Sir Viv, saying I know there is plenty of cricket left in you. We had a conversation for about 45 minutes and that was so heartwarming because when your batting hero calls you it means a lot. That was the moment things changed for me and from that moment onwards I also performed much much better,” Tendulkar added.