It's horrible to see Sachin fade like this: Michael Vaughan on India-England Test

England's performances in the last two Tests have been as good as anything I have seen from them either as a player or a fan, and they should leave Sachin Tendulkar heading into retirement after the Nagpur Test. It is time for Tendulkar, great player that he is, to walk away now for the sake of the Indian team.

Last week we had a call from a legend, a great, in Ricky Ponting. He felt his time was up and realised a young player would take his place. I am hoping that Sachin will also accept it is coming to the stage when he has to make his own call.

There is no one strong enough in India cricket to go and knock on his door and say time is up. But for the good of the team senior players have to retire so the rest can move forward and build a new era.

Sometimes when you have senior players who stick around for too long the team get stuck in a rut. Sachin could still eke out a few runs for another 12 months but he is not batting at the levels he used to. Look at the way he was out in the second innings on Saturday. It was a good ball from Graeme Swann but he was just prodding at it.

He got 76 in the first innings but the man at the crease was not the Sachin Tendulkar I know. He was not playing the free-flowing way we have loved down the years. He is having to think and really work out where he can score every single run but in the past it came naturally.

Maybe that is a sign he is thinking about moving on and wants to go out on a high. When you want something so desperately and to finish with a hundred in your last few games, it actually becomes harder and harder. You can want something too much.

I think it is affecting other players in the India side. It is hard for guys such as Virat Kohli, Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh, who have looked up to Sachin all their lives, to see him struggling. I am sure he is still a magnificent role model in the dressing room and is respected by everyone, but it is horrible to see these greats go on too long and playing badly at the end.

Eventually even Sachin has to move on. He can't play forever and there will be a youngster out there ready to take the No?4 spot. It will take a while to get used to life without Sachin but it might bring new energy into the set-up.

During the last two Tests India have looked old and tired but they are still quite a young team. They have fresh legs in the dressing room such as Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin. They should be vibrant in the field, full of energy and buzz. But it is not happening and Indian cricket in the Test arena has not been the same since the Indian Premier League came along.

That is not to take anything away from England's achievement. Barring a miracle in Calcutta today they will have won two Tests in a row in India. It is far better than anything they achieved in Australia two winters ago. In terms of kudos in our country, beating Australia is the big thing, but in the wider cricketing world winning in India is the ultimate.

I admit that I never gave England a chance in this series. But they are making lots of us eat humble pie and I am delighted to do that. It is great to see an England side play like they have in the last two games.

With the ball they have been very aggressive and controlled. Monty Panesar and Swann are bowling with purchase, giving the ball plenty of spin but controlling it as well. They are not over-attacking. They are staying in the game and waiting for their rewards.

James Anderson has been exceptional. He is now right up there with the best fast bowlers we have ever produced. He is bowling with skill, aggression and getting the ball to reverse.

With the bat Alastair Cook has been immense. Without his runs they would be out of the series. Kevin Pietersen's innings in Mumbai was special, but Cook has led from the front like Graham Gooch used to in his prime.

Nick Compton also deserves a lot of credit because he is helping to set a foundation with Cook for the team. If you get off to a bad start in India, lose a couple of wickets early, and the spinners can get into the middle order quickly, it is very difficult. But once you have a solid start, the middle order feels more comfortable and is coming in with the game already set up.

You look for teams to learn all the time and England have done that on this trip. They realised their mistake with selection in the first Test and then addressed problems against spin that reared up in Ahmedabad.

It is an extraordinary turnaround from that first Test. They have played India at their own game. They have batted for long periods, grinding bowlers down. Individuals have taken responsibility. Cook, Pietersen, Swann, Panesar, Anderson and at times Matt Prior have gone out and said, "I will win this session for the team". That has been the difference.