It's selfish to retire when at the top: Tendulkar

Mirpur: Despite a phenomenal century of hundreds under his belt iconic batsman Sachin Tendulkar is in no mood to consider retirement as he feels going out on top is a "selfish thought".

Tendulkar struck his 100th international century in an Asia Cup match against Bangladesh on Friday, ending a year-long wait to get to the milestone which could remain unsurpassed.

But the 38-year-old is not even thinking about bidding adieu to his over two-decade long career just yet.

"My belief is that if I feel I can contribute, I am mentally there where I feel I am bringing value to the team then I should be playing. It's a very selfish thought that when you are at the top you should retire," Tendulkar told a news channel.

"When you are at the top, you should serve the nation. When I feel I am not in a frame of mind to contribute to nation, that's when I should retire not when somebody says. That's a selfish statement that one should retire on top," he explained.

The diminnutive right-hander, who sits on a pile of records and runs, admitted it was tough to deal with the hype around the 100th ton and the fact that the wait lingered on only made it harder.

"(There is) more of a relief because my 99th hundred was against South Africa (during the World Cup) and after that media didn't speak about my 100th hundred while the World Cup was on," he recalled.

"I missed the West Indies tour and somehow there is speculation that I wanted to score the 100 in England at Lord's but a hundred doesn't come as and when you want", he said.

"For the last one year, there were patches I was batting reasonably ok and some failures also but the whole package put together, it was possibly the toughest of my life. Last one year has been really tough," Tendulkar said.

Responding to the criticism against him that he was playing only for the milestone, Tendulkar said, "There are certain people I respect and there are certain people I don't respect. So I don't get affected by ones I don't respect, they have there opinions, it doesn't matter much they remain where they are."

"I don't bother much about them. Let them be where they are. I have got a bigger job of playing for India, score runs and win matches for India and I focus on that job instead of reacting to what they are saying," he retorted.

Asked whether the 100th ton was playing on his mind before it was hyped by the media, Tendulkar said he wasn't thinking about the stat.

"Earlier the 100th 100 wasn't on my mind at all, I was so focused on the World Cup. My biggest dream was to lift the World Cup and there could be no greater satisfaction for a player than to bring the World Cup home. That was the most important moment of my life.

"I don't think anything gets bigger than that. Personal milestones are created along that path where you have got a bigger goal and the bigger goal was to play for nation," he asserted.

Tendulkar said he was glad the hoopla around the hundred had finally ended.

"I am feeling like plenty of weight has been taken off my shoulders. I said that I have lost 50 kg yesterday but looking back it feels a little more than that. I am glad that it's all done with now.

"There are moments when you question youself, why is this happening because I was batting well. There was no specific reason to get out. It just happened. Sometimes you just have to accept what the almighty's plan is for you. I want to assure you that I won't stop trying my best," he said.

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Mexico City to retire last iconic VW 'Bug' taxis

Mexico City:  Mexico's capital is ready to stomp out its iconic Volkswagen "Bug" taxis.

Officials said on Friday that the last of the old-style VW Beetles will have their cab licenses expire by the end of the year, marking the end of an adventurous if uncomfortable part of Mexico City life.

The rounded, two-door sedan nicknamed the Bug - in Mexico, it's a "Vocho" - has long been an informal symbol of this sprawling city, a tough, rattling reflection of its gritty urbanity and chaotic streets.

At its height in 2006, the little VWs accounted for almost half of all taxis in Mexico City, with about 50,000 cruising the streets. Today, there are only about 3,500 of the privately owned and operated Bugs among 130,000 taxis.

Victor Ramirez, director of taxi services for the city's transport department, said time has run out for the classic VW design that evolved from the original Beetle of 1930s Germany.

The model hasn't been manufactured since 2003, when the last one rolled off an assembly line in the Mexican state of Puebla.

For safety reasons, Mexico City began mandating four-door taxis in 2003. So the Beetles that entered service in 2002 are the last to operate as cabs. Most car models are limited by the city to eight years of service as taxis, but the Bug was allowed a 10-year run - and that ends with 2012.

Despite their role as icons, the VW taxis have never won plaudits for comfort. Drivers remove the front passenger seat so customers can get in more easily, leaving only the ungenerous back seat.

And with no front seat, there is little to stop the passenger from being thrown forward in a mishap, Ramirez noted.

"If they slammed on the brakes and you weren't wearing a seat belt, you wound up in the windshield," he said. "The government mandated four-door cars, with trunks, to ensure passengers' safety."

For a time, in the 1990s and early 2000s, Bug taxis were notorious as a robbery trap. Because there were only two doors, muggers or kidnappers could push their way through the passenger door, leaving the passenger no way to escape.

Many people felt a pang of nostalgia for the Bug after Friday's announcement, even while acknowledging the little car's shortcomings.

"It's a loss - not exactly for its comfort, but because it was economical" to operate, said Hector Vera Perez, who was a cabbie in the 1970s.

Vera Perez, now a 65-year-old ambulance driver, said the Vocho was much cheaper to run than the big American cars that made up the majority of the city's taxi fleet in those days.

He also argued that the Bugs made the city's streets safer, noting they were slow, fragile and noisy.

"Today the cars (used as taxis) are bigger, and they drive faster," he said. "Before, they drove more cautiously, because any accident would destroy them."

Some people said the VW taxis are easier to find: The engine is so noisy you can hear them rattling down the street blocks away.

Ramirez said that after nearly 10 years of constant use on the capital's punishing streets, the VWs that are losing their taxi licenses are in pretty bad shape. But the city wants to get them off the road, so taxi owners who turn in Bugs to be crushed will get 15,000-peso credits toward the purchase of new cabs, he said.

In some ways, it was the VW's fragility that endeared it to drivers. Vera Perez recalled fondly how easy it was to fix a Vocho after a fender-bender.

"You just took the fender off with a wrench and got another one."

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