Sachin Tendulkar completed 20 years of international cricket yesterday. But it was on November 16, 1989 that he walked out to bat for India against Pakistan on Day Two of the Karachi Test.
Sachin Tendulkar completed 20 years of international cricket yesterday. But it was on November 16, 1989 that he walked out to bat for India against Pakistan on Day Two of the Karachi Test.
So in effect, today's the day to celebrate 20 years of batting. However, India and world cricket would not be celebrating had Tendulkar's career ended prematurely in 2004 due to the tennis elbow injury that just refused to leave him in peace. The helpless situation caused him to have serious doubts over his recovery.
"Even after surgery, I couldn't play. I tried everything. I started to get impatient. It was tough to accept and I started getting frustrated," Tendulkar revealed to MiD DAY last week.
Illustrating how mentally disturbed he was, Tendulkar admitted: "I have gone out for drives alone at 3 am. I used to ask my wife Anjali, 'why should this happen to me?' but she kept telling me that I have been able to play for so many years without it (tennis elbow injury). So many guys couldn't even do this. All these positive messages came in handy in this difficult phase."
Asked whether the thought of not being able to play kept entering his mind, he said: "Yes. I prayed to God that I have to get back to playing and cannot stop playing cricket. 'Just let me play,' I pleaded everyday, every minute."
Tendulkar knows what he is talking about when he said he tried everything to get over the injury. Apart from a delicate surgery, he underwent shock treatment. He told MiD DAY on his return from England on September 21, 2004 that the shock treatment was "extremely painful."
The injury caused him to miss the 2004 Videocon Cup in Holland, the NatWest Challenge and the Champions Trophy in England. And when the Australians came to India for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, he only figured in the Nagpur and Mumbai Tests.
The injury prevented him from gripping the bat and that caused a sinking feeling. "I have played with some serious injuries, but the problem here is that I cannot grip the bat. It's as basic as that. In other injuries, you can at least hold the bat and still manage u2013 not this one," he said then.
Tendulkar's prayers were answered and by the end of the year, he returned to his old, run-scoring ways with a double ton against Bangladesh. He couldn't thank Anjali enough. "She gave me a lot of encouragement. The doctor and physio too were reassuring and stressed that recovery was only a matter of time," he said last week.
