Has time caught up with Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar is facing unprecedented calls to retire after a string of failures fuelled speculation that time had finally caught up with India's cricket icon.

Tendulkar, who is now 39, has shouldered the hopes of a nation for 23 years, in the process becoming the world's leading run-getter in both Test and one-day cricket with 100 international centuries.

But a string of recent poor scores -- combined with the manner of his dismissals -- has turned sections of the media and a once adoring public against him.

Sunil Gavaskar, the first man to reach the 10,000-run milestone in Tests, suggested during this week's second Test against New Zealand in Bangalore that Tendulkar's reflexes were on the slide.

"The dismissal that was most disturbing was that of the 'master' when he was bowled through the gate," Gavaskar wrote in his syndicated column.

Pressed further, on air during the second Test, Gavaskar said: "With age, the feet don't come to the pitch of the ball, the eyes don't pick up the ball early."

Former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin also said Tendulkar's feet were not moving well in the crease and he was constantly playing across the line.