We have a lot of home series this year & the beginning of next... Dravid's slot is vacant now & Laxman has been in even poorer form than Sachin , plus Laxman is out of I.P.L , and hence Sachin has a good chance of surviving till the end of the year... So, I strongly feel it is only by the end of this year (or after Aus tour of India in beginning-2013), he will be at a stage where he will either be hopelessly out of form & would be requested to retire, or not enough & hence will himself be forced to retire...