{"id":28690,"date":"2026-06-30T08:40:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T03:10:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/sachin-tendulkar-staying-away-from-the-middle-will-be-hardest-sachin-tendulkars-emotional-message-to-ben-stokes-after-retirement-cricket-news\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T08:40:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T03:10:35","slug":"sachin-tendulkar-staying-away-from-the-middle-will-be-hardest-sachin-tendulkars-emotional-message-to-ben-stokes-after-retirement-cricket-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/sachin-tendulkar-staying-away-from-the-middle-will-be-hardest-sachin-tendulkars-emotional-message-to-ben-stokes-after-retirement-cricket-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Sachin Tendulkar: &#8216;Staying away from the middle will be hardest&#8217;: Sachin Tendulkar&#8217;s emotional message to Ben Stokes after retirement | Cricket News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-132082055,imgsize-82956,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/sachin-tendulkar-and-ben-stokes.jpg\" alt=\"'Staying away from the middle will be hardest': Sachin Tendulkar's emotional message to Ben Stokes after retirement\" title=\"File Pic: Sachin Tendulkar, right, and Ben Stokes at the Wimbledon. (AP\/PTI Photo)\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Ta7d_ img_cptn\"><span title=\"File Pic: Sachin Tendulkar, right, and Ben Stokes at the Wimbledon. (AP\/PTI Photo)\">File Pic: Sachin Tendulkar, right, and Ben Stokes at the Wimbledon. (AP\/PTI Photo)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>NEW DELHI: Indian batting legend <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/sachin-tendulkar\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\">Sachin Tendulkar<\/a> led tributes to Ben Stokes after the England great announced his retirement from international cricket, praising his fearless approach, match-winning temperament and inspirational leadership in an emotional social media post.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"5\"\/>Stokes confirmed that the third Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge would be the final international appearance of his illustrious 15-year career, bringing the curtain down on one of the most influential careers in modern cricket.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"7\"\/>Reacting to the announcement, Tendulkar hailed Stokes for the energy and intensity he brought to every contest while acknowledging the immense impact he had as both an all-rounder and captain.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"11\"\/> <span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"14\"\/>&#8220;@benstokes38, I&#8217;ve always admired the way you brought energy into the game. Your positivity, your fearless intent, and the way you shaped moments under pressure stood out every time you walked in,&#8221; Tendulkar wrote on X.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"16\"\/>The Indian legend went on to describe Stokes as one of England&#8217;s finest all-rounders.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"18\"\/>&#8220;As an all-rounder, you&#8217;ve been one of England&#8217;s finest, and as a captain, your bold tactics and instinctive reading of the game added a new edge to your side.&#8221;<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"21\"\/>Tendulkar concluded with a heartfelt farewell while adding a touch of humour.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"23\"\/>&#8220;Wishing you the very best for what comes next. Though knowing you, staying away from the middle might be the hardest part. Good luck for your next innings!&#8221;<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"25\"\/><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"27\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2>Stokes signs off with no regrets<br \/><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"29\"\/>Stokes&#8217; farewell, however, ended in disappointment as Tom Latham&#8217;s New Zealand completed a 160-run victory at Trent Bridge to seal the three-match series 2-1. It was the first home Test series defeat of Stokes&#8217; career as both player and captain.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"32\"\/>Despite the result, the 35-year-old insisted he was completely at peace with his decision.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"34\"\/>&#8220;I&#8217;m done, mate, and I&#8217;m very happy,&#8221; Stokes told the BBC after the match.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"36\"\/>The England star admitted the decision had taken months of thought and discussions with those closest to him.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"38\"\/>&#8220;I am incredibly content with everything right now. It&#8217;s a decision that you don&#8217;t take lightly. It has taken a lot of time.&#8221;<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"40\"\/>Stokes also acknowledged that a turbulent few weeks, including disciplinary controversy following England&#8217;s victory at Lord&#8217;s, &#8220;maybe&#8221; influenced the timing of his retirement, but stressed that years of physical and mental demands had ultimately taken their toll.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"43\"\/>&#8220;Over the last 6-12 months I think everything that I&#8217;ve done over a long period of time has taken its toll,&#8221; he said.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"45\"\/>Having captained England through the transformative &#8220;Bazball&#8221; era and played starring roles in the country&#8217;s 2019 ODI World Cup and 2022 T20 World Cup triumphs, Stokes leaves the international stage as one of England&#8217;s defining cricketers.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"47\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/sports\/cricket\/news\/staying-away-from-the-middle-will-be-hardest-sachin-tendulkars-emotional-message-to-ben-stokes-after-retirement\/articleshow\/132082051.cms\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>File Pic: Sachin Tendulkar, right, and Ben Stokes at the Wimbledon. (AP\/PTI Photo) NEW DELHI: Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar led tributes to Ben Stokes after the England great announced his retirement from international cricket, praising his fearless approach, match-winning temperament and inspirational leadership in an emotional social media post.Stokes confirmed that the third Test [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[263],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}