TENDULKAR'S RETIREMENT FROM ODIs IS A FIGMENT OF MEDIA IMAGINATION, SAYS FAMILY

Legions of Sachin Tendulkar's fans can heave a sigh of relief now with reports about the champion batsman's possible ODI retirement turning out to be mere rumours.

Speculation was rife with media reports claiming that Tendulkar, the highest run-accumulator in the history of international cricket, might retire from the shorter version of the game after the seventh and final match of India's ongoing ODI series at Lord's on Saturday.

Team India captain Rahul Dravid, however, rubbished the claims in his post-match press conference in London yesterday, dismissing the reports as "completely false".

The reports prompted BCCI Chief Administrative Officer Ratnakar Shetty to get in touch with the player and the official said, "I've spoken to him and he said the reports have no substance. It's media speculation."

Further clarification came from Tendulkar's family with his wife Anjali saying that he would have told her if that was the case. "The rumours about Sachin's retirement are not true. He could retire tomorrow but for that, we have to wait for him to say that. There is no point guessing it. How can anyone else say he is retiring from one dayers?" she was quoted as saying by a television channel.

"If he was to retire he would have told us first. Had Sachin had been retiring we would have been there at Lord's to watch the match," she said.

RAHUL DRAVID SETS HIS SIGHTS ON PROLIFIC ENGLISH SUMMER

He fell five-run shy of a ton in his very first Test some 11 years ago but Team India captain Rahul Dravid still cherishes every moment of his debut match at cricket's traditional and spiritual home, the Lord's.

Dravid was batting on 95 when he edged one to the wicketkeeper and walked in the 1996 Test to see Sourav Ganguly outshine him with a debut ton.

On Thursday, Dravid leads the Indian team in the first Test against England and the stylish right-hander said he had no regrets even though he fell tantalisingly short of becoming the fourth cricketer to score a century on debut at Lord's.

"I couldn't have scripted it better. Just playing for India would have been special, to be honest with you - whether it had been in Chittagong or at Lord's. But for it to have happened at Lord's - really the home of cricket," Dravid told 'Cricinfo' website.

In awe of the venue and its rich history, Dravid said "To have known that so many great cricketers had played at that ground - the tradition, history. They really have maintained the culture and traditions in the ground.

"And whatever people may say, you do feel it. There's something about walking down those steps at Lord's. I do feel it definitely. So for me it was special to have played at Lord's and to have actually done well there. Every time I've gone there, I've always felt nice in some ways." Dravid said playing in England was a dream which, like every aspiring cricketer, he cherished at the bottom of his heart and touring the country was realising that dream.