I am not bothered by retirement opinion of others: Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar may not be in the best A of form of late but the senior Indian batman today said that he was A not bothered by the opinion of others about his retirement and that A he would just stick to his job. "Lots of people have been talking about this question (of retirement). If I remember correctly, this question began in 2005 and it has been A continuing since then. But my answer has been I will stick to my A job and you stick to your job," he said at the launch of India's A first e-newspaper, www.Enewspaperofindia.Com A here. "It does not affect me," Tendulkar said when asked whether the A constant talk of when he would retire had irritated him or affected A his performance. Tendulkar was taking part in a discussion after the launch of A the e-newspaper in the presence of Minister of Communications and A Information Technology Kapil Sibal and Minister of Information and A Broadcasting Manish Tewari here. Tendulkar talked about how media speculated on his 100th international A 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 A hundred during the World Cup. You (media) kept quiet during the World A Cup, not discussing about my 100th ton as there were the other more A important matter of India winning the tournament. After the World A Cup there was again this focus on my 100th international ton," he said. Some of Tendulkar's counter questions to queries prevented the A scribes from asking follow-up questions. Asked if he read newspapers often, Tendulkar shot back, "Main A newspaper parte rahunga to kaun khelega (If I keep on reading newspaper A then who will play)." On the question of the likes of former captains Sourav Ganguly A and Rahul Dravid and V V S Laxman giving opinions about him, though A not necessarily negative, Tendulkar asked, "You think they were talking A wrong things about me?" On a serious note, Tendulkar said that he was not bothered by A the opinion of the others. A "People are free to give their opinions. Lots of people are A giving opinions about me. Some have played the game and they were A giving opinions. Some have not played the game and they are also A giving opinions. But I don't worry about opinions," he said. "It's a package deal. You won't score a hundred everytime you A go out to bat. And like that you won't get positive comments all A the time. So I can't control on what others say. What I can do is A to just focus on the things I can handle, that is to play to the A best of my ability," he added. Tendulkar said his family does not discuss cricket and so the A game was not at the centre of things in his household. A A A "We don't discuss cricket in our family. Our family discuss A other issues of the day but not cricket. When I want to discuss cricket, A I do it with my brother," said Tendulkar who is now a Rajya Sabha member. Tendulkar has now become one of the most followed celebrities A in the social media space with 3.2 million people following his Twitter A handle and he said was happy that he was able to raise money for A charity through this platform. "Actually, I started this twitter handle after my friends told A me that there were many fake accounts in my name telling things which A I have not said and done. To stop all those things I started my twitter A account. A A A "But, the platform of social media served a very good purpose. A Through that I was able to raise money for young cancer patients. A Lots of people donated money for these children after reading my A appeal on my twitter account. I thanked all those who have made the A donations," he said. Talking about the fast-paced dissemination of information through A digital medium, Tendulkar said that these initiatives should start A from the schools if the country wants the actual benefits. "It's amazing the flow of information is so fast-paced now. A So, this kind of digital information with updates of news every 6-7 A hours is incredible. It's good for people like us who are always A on the move, to get fresh and updated news very fast. "But I feel this digital initiatives should start from the schools A so that the children can start learning from a very young age and A get hold of the opportunities that are available now."