This time he knew it was time to go, so he was at peace: Samir Dighe

MUMBAI: Sachin Tendulkar couldn’t sleep the night before he quit One-day International cricket last year on December 24. He was found sleepwalking and shadow-practising with the bat. But the night before the legend decided to bid goodbye to Test cricket, he was relatively composed and calm, said his close family friends.
"This time he was mentally prepared and knew it was time to go," said Samir Dighe, a former teammate and close friend of Tendulkar since their learning days at the Ramakant Achrekar academy at the Shivaji Park."In fact, he wished me on my birthday two days ago and hinted at taking the call. I didn’t know it would be so soon," said Dighe.
"I would say it was an extremely emotional decision which hasn’t come easy but it was his decision. It was not prompted by anyone else. We have respected all his decisions and we should understand that it has not been easy at all for him given his crazy child-like passion for the game. He worships the game and has never taken his place for granted. It is difficult for him at this point in time but he will surely realize that there is life after cricket and I wish him a glorious post-retirement innings too."
Another very close friend since school, Atul Ranade, was emotional. "To me it came as a surprise... I didn’t expect it. I don’t know how Sachin’s body was keeping up. We were to assess his fitness levels after the Champions League T20 but he knows best and we will all cherish the great memories till we die.
"To me he has been a player with a golden bat and a golden heart. A player for whom the team always came first. He was always excited and happy when his team won even if he had scored a zero. He always kept the game above himself. There’s a lot to learn from him and every young player should try and emulate his qualities."
On when he would be meeting Sachin, Ranade said, "I wanted to go today but I have been overcome by emotions... but I will meet him soon."