Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar has revealed that he had to deal with a recurrence of a painful decade-old toe injury during India’s tour of Australia in 2011-12, which caused him a lot of trouble.
Tendulkar suffered a toe injury in 2000 and it resurfaced the following year, which kept him out of action for the tri-series in Sri Lanka in which New Zealand was the third team.
The batting legend recalled how the same affected him badly in the second half of India’s tour of Australia in 2011-12, a series which the visitors lost 0-4 and handed the Border-Gavaskar trophy to the home team.
After winning the 50-over World Cup in April, this was also the period in which the Indian Test team went through their worst phase, losing 0–4 in England in the same year.
“In the year 2000, I injured my toe in South Africa, after which I also took injections. The same injury resurfaced after the 2011 World Cup. I don’t even know; I didn’t do anything that would put pressure on him.
“Actually, I was in London for a holiday and I was going to join the (Indian) team there,” Tendulkar told a large audience in Mumbai on Friday evening at the launch of a book titled ‘Scintillating Sachin’. Told during, and titled ‘Shatakant Ekach’ in Marathi.
Tendulkar, speaking in Marathi, explained that he was in such pain and despair that it was too much to handle and local doctors suggested that he should undergo surgery.
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“(In Australia) it was very painful and unbearable. I used bandages, changed my insoles twice, and was just managing to play somehow. Most of the tour was over but my frustration kept mounting. Was staying
“The Australian grounds are tough, which was making it even tougher. The doctor advised a surgery,” he said.
Tendulkar said his wife Anjali flew from India to Australia within 48 hours and helped him take the right decision.
“I had to run, so my pain got worse and I consulted a doctor in Australia. He suggested I needed to have a surgery, and even my other leg was hurting. So I Shared it with Anjali, I told her that I can’t bear this pain anymore and I’ve done a lot and I will undergo surgery,” he said.
“I said ‘I am informing the team that I cannot play, I am in pain and it is difficult’,” Tendulkar said. After hearing this, Anjali came literally to Brisbane in 48 hours, only to stop me. , to not have this surgery.” , adding that the doctors said that if the surgery was unsuccessful, it would affect his career, forcing him to be in a wheelchair for at least six weeks.
Even Tendulkar’s doctor Dr Anant Joshi, who was also present on Friday evening, said that this type of injury affects ballet dancers.
Former India cricketers Kiron More, Zaheer Khan, Pravin Amre and former coach Anshuman Gaekwad also spoke at length about their memories with Tendulkar at the launch.
Tendulkar also recalled one of his most memorable centuries, his 613 min 241 off 436 balls against Australia at Sydney during the 2003–04 tour, in which he did not play a single cover drive, which was one of his trademark shots. One is considered.
He said that interactions with his brother Ajit Tendulkar, who initially helped shape Tendulkar’s career and remained a pillar throughout, helped him recover from a series of mediocre scores and post a mammoth total in Sydney .
Tendulkar said, ‘I was batting well in Australia, but was not scoring big runs. That’s why I had a conversation with Ajit before the Sydney Test. He had seen my batting and said, ‘There was no technical flaw in your batting. But the flaw is in your shot selection. He said I need to be more disciplined while playing shots.”
“He said another thing: ‘I don’t think a bowler is getting you out. You played the wrong shot and that’s why you got out. So accept the challenge that no one will get you out in this Test.’ I accepted that challenge.
“Fortunately, I scored in both the innings and remained unbeaten in the entire Test. So he played an important role in finding a solution and it is because of him that I am sitting before you.
The batting legend said that some of the methods that Ajit asked him to adopt were forever ingrained in his subconscious.
“I actually learned pre-match preparation while in school, because since then Ajit made sure that I was better prepared for the next day’s match. He used to tell me that ‘the match starts at 9.30 am the next day Won’t happen; you started thinking about it on the eve of the game’. From then on I got into the habit of pressing my own clothes.”
“I still remember when I was playing my 200th Test and on the eve of that Test I was ironing my whites. The reason for doing this is that when I was looking at my whites while ironing, my subconscious mind started preparing for the game,” Tendulkar said.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI,