Sachin Tendulkar has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.  He will retire after playing his 200th test in the two match series with the West Indies next month. 

Former England captain Michael Vaughan tweeted "One of the greatest ever Sachin Tendulkar is retiring. One of my heroes and an absolute joy to play against."

Tendulkar made his début in 1989 aged just 16 and last year became the only batsman in history to score 100 International centuries.  He also leads the way with the most test appearances in front of Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh who have 168 each. 

During his test career to date (198 tests) he has scored 15,837 runs at an average of 53.86. He has hit 51 centuries and 67 half-centuries. His top score came in Dhaka in 2004 where he scored 248 against Bangladesh.

His one-day international record isn't so bad either. In 463 ODIs he scored 18,426 runs at an average of 44.83. He scored 49 centuries (including a top score of 200 ) and 96 fifties.

"It's hard to imagine a life without playing cricket because it's all I've ever done since I was 11," Tendulkar said. 

N Srinivasan the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India,  said: "He is without doubt the greatest cricketer India has produced. "We respect his decision to retire, although many of us can't imagine an Indian team without Sachin."