Sachin Tendulkar, Nuwan Kulasekara
Sri Lanka's Nuwan Kulasekara celebrates taking the wicket of India's Sachin Tendulkar during their one-day international cricket match in Brisbane February 21, 2012.Reuters

Cricket lovers in India and fans of batting great Sachin Tendulkar may be patiently waiting for the Little Master to reach his 100 centuries milestone but former Australia cricket captain Ian Chappell said that it's time for him to retire.

"WHAT could have been a glorious farewell tour of Australia for Sachin Tendulkar has turned into an ongoing tale of missed opportunities, leading to frustration all round," Ian Chappell wrote in The Daily Telegraph.

Chappell said that Tendulkar has become a frustrated man following his failure to score his 100th century - even going to the extent of blaming others for his failure.

"With each failure to score his coveted 100th international century, Tendulkar has become more desperate to the point where, when he was run out at the SCG, he gestured in Brett Lee's direction as if to say: "It was his fault I was caught short of my crease," he said, adding, "When a player of Tendulkar's ability starts blaming other people for his failure to deliver, it's time he looked in the mirror and asked himself: "Am I playing this game for the right reason?"

The legendary cricketer is of the opinion that one should play cricket only if he helps his team win matches.

"If a player gives everything and the team loses there is no shame in that, but when individual statistics start to overshadow the team result then clearly there is a problem. That's been a huge hurdle for India to overcome all summer - Tendulkar's search for his 100th century has become a burden on the team as well as the player," he said.

Chappell said that Tendulkar still has the old touch but looks vulnerable when he plays conservatively.

"The strange part about this saga of missed opportunities is that Tendulkar started the tour in really good form. In both the MCG and SCG Tests, he looked good when playing his shots and it was only as he either neared a break in play or his landmark hundred that he began to clam up. When he was playing his shots he looked like the Tendulkar of old, but when he batted conservatively he looked vulnerable," he wrote.