Mumbai: Former Australian captain Ian Chappell has said Sachin Tendulkar should review his future before someone else is forced to make the decision for him.

“At the moment, he looks like a player trying to eke out a career; build on a glittering array of statistics,” Chappell wrote in a Mumbai-based tabloid on Friday.

“If he really is playing for that reason and not to help win as many matches as he can for India, then he is wasting his time and should retire immediately.

“Before anybody else makes a decision on what will happen to Sachin, the player himself has to have a good long look in the mirror and decide what he’s trying to achieve in the game.”

The 33-year-old holds a host of records in both forms of the game, but has been a shadow of his former self in recent times.

At this World Cup, in which India tumbled out in the first round in the Caribbean, Sachin failed against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and notched up a half-century against Bermuda.

Chappell drew a parallel between Sachin and Brian Lara and said the West Indian left-hander had not changed his style over 17 years. “When you think that for a decade Brian Lara and Sachin went head-to-head in a wonderful battle of strokeplay to establish who was the best batsman in the world, they are now worlds apart in effectiveness,” he wrote.

“Lara’s quick-footed tip toe through a terrific innings against a good Australian bowling attack when the rest of the West Indies top-order succumbed easily was in direct contrast to Sachin’s stumbling effort in the crucial Sri Lanka match.”

Chappell conceded that Sachin had suffered due to injuries. “Sachin hasn’t been as lucky as Lara; the Indian batsman has suffered a lot of injuries in this period where his play has deteriorated and there is nothing that melts your mental approach quicker than physical handicaps.”

But the Australian said this was no excuse. “For whatever reason Sachin hasn’t been able to maintain his extremely high standards for the last few years and unless he can find a way to recapture this mental approach he’s not doing his team or himself any favours.

“If Sachin had found an honest mirror three years ago and asked the question: ‘Mirror, mirror on the wall who is the best batsman of all?’ It would’ve answered: ‘Brian Charles Lara’.

“If he asked that same mirror right now: ‘Mirror, mirror on the wall should I retire?’ The answer would be: ‘Yes’.” (Reuters)