"Aap dur raho" - Sachin Tendulkar reveals MS Dhoni's words during his farewell match

It's been more than a decade since the legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar played his last international match. Tendulkar retired from international cricket in 2013 after playing a Test match against West Indies on his home ground at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.

Recently, Tendulkar opened up on the moments of his last international match that will always be in his memory. The 51-year-old revealed how the Indian team led by the captain at that time MS Dhoni decided to do something special in his farewell match.

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Sachin Tendulkar recalls his farewell match

Sachin Tendulkar was honored with the BCCI's CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award during the annual Naman Awards. He received the award from the ICC chairman and the former BCCI secretary Jay Shah in Mumbai.

After he received the award, Tendulkar gave a speech in which he recalled the moments of his farewell match. He considered himself lucky to witness those moments as the team prepared to do something for the legend after the fall of the ninth wicket for West Indies.

"I'm speechless when it comes to those moments; those moments are never planned. I think it's a story written from above. Honestly, when I look back, I really find it difficult to believe that all these things have happened in my life," Tendulkar said.

"I consider myself extremely lucky, and that last moment when the whole team was planning to do something for me and celebrate the ninth wicket, we celebrated that," he added.

"Paaji aap thoda dur raho" - MS Dhoni to Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar further remembered the words said by the then-India-captain MS Dhoni who asked him to stay away from the team so that they can plan something special. Tendulkar recalled how the whole team gave him the guard of honor and felt that it was a special moment for him.

"MS Dhoni said 'paaji aap thoda dur raho, hum kuch plan kar rahe hai' and then the team gave me the guard of honor. They gave me that send-off and that is when you kind of realize that the end is near. 'Ki iske baad I will never walk out on the field as a current Indian player'," Tendulkar exclaimed.

The former opener also gave a piece of advice for the upcoming and the current generation and asked them to value the game. He advised the players not to be distracted by anything and to keep focusing on their careers.

"Without cricket, all of us wouldn't be sitting in this room. See for me it has been the ultimate gift of my life. We have a bat and ball and if there is no solid grip over that you start losing grip over the bat and ball. Kind of slowly start losing grip over your career also," the 51-year-old said.

"I should not be giving you advice and stay focused whatever, but there will be distractions. Don't let them disrupt your career. You all are current cricketers. There is plenty of cricket left in you just go out give your best and make the most of this opportunity because you'll only realize once you've stopped playing cricket where you were a few years ago," Tendulkar added.

Sachin Tendulkar's incredible records

Sachin Tendulkar's illustrious career ended with staggering numbers of 200 Tests 463 ODIs and 1 T20I. He is currently the highest overall run-getter in international cricket and also separately in Tests and ODIs.

Tendulkar scored over 18000 runs in ODIs and close to 16000 runs in Tests. He has 100 international hundreds (51 in Tests and 49 in ODIs) in international cricket and is the only cricketer to achieve this feat.