When it finally happens, there is shock, consternation, sadness, and perhaps even relief. Sachin Tendulkar has chosen his time well. Will anybody ever play 200 Test matches again? Or score 100 international centuries, 51 of them in Tests? After 24 years (his 200th Test will be played next month on the anniversary of his first), this is no longer about a sportsman retiring from the game. For his goodbye is a reminder of our own mortality.