Dec 15, 2006: He has admitted his weakness, finally! Just before the start of the Test series against South Africa, batsman Sachin Tendulkar has admitted that age is catching up. He has also apparently told himself to change his batting style if he has to survive.

There had been mixed opinions, some of them strong, about Sachin's repeated failures. While many had raised a lot of questions on his fitness and performance, Sachin remained god to a section. However, failures continued unabated on field.

Now with the batsmen himself saying that he has realised that his body is different now and that he isn’t a 17-year-old body anymore, it is left to the cricket enthusiasts to get real. Sachin has reportedly stated that changes do take place in everybody's life and you have to be brave enough to accept that, and try and use your body as smartly and cleverly as possible.

However, certain things seldom change. Like for instance Sunny Gavaskar’s opinion of Sachin. Gavaskar continued to back Sachin Tendulkar saying that he had a lot of cricket left in him and he hoped that Sachin would continue to play till the 2011 World Cup.

He has also justified Sachin saying that if one sets goals in terms of centuries and all that, he is bund to falter because that's additional pressure.

It is however a reality that for the past couple of months Sachin has been failing on field. While some think that Sachin should adapt with the changing times, there are others who believe that he should continue to be aggressive in his batting.

Whatever said, it is the team’s potential that is being put under the scanner. There is no single hero in a team event. Sachin needs to get his act together and if he doesn’t, he has to be treated as another failed player. Indian cricket, undoubtedly, has to move on. Hero worship has to place when the team has to play as a team.