Sachin Tendulkar walks off with tears

Sachin Tendulkar walked off the ground with tears in his eyes as his glittering 24-year-career came to an end on Saturday at his home ground — Wankhede Stadium.

Tendulkar embraced teammates, who tried to give him a guard of honour on his way out, but the most prolific batsman in international cricket history went quickly into the pavilion wiping away tears.

Tendulkar bowled a couple of overs on the final day of his career amid roaring applause, bowling both leg-spin and googly on the third day of the second test against the West Indies, which he declared last month would be his last game.

Tendulkar, who has already retired from limited overs internationals, had earlier in the game struck a neat 74 with 12 fours, which comprised several of his trademark shots like the straight drive, cover drive and paddle-sweep.

That proved to be his last innings, as India wrapped up a comfortable win without the need for a second innings.

Tendulkar’s wife Anjali was among those watching the “Little Master” in action.

“It’s been an emotional one month for us starting from the day he announced his retirement,” Anjali told the channel beaming the match live. “Sachin is very good at hiding his emotions so we don’t really know what’s going on in his mind.”

Anjali said the retirement had not been planned for long.

“He had always said he would retire the day he felt he could not give his best and he just came up to me one day and said that the time had come for him to retire,” she said.