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| May 26, 2005 | Thursday | Rabi-us-Sani 17, 1426 |
Surgery sidelines Tendulkar for four months
NEW DELHI, May 25: Indian batting superstar Sachin Tendulkar is set to miss international cricket for at least four months following corrective surgery in his left elbow in England, an official said on Wednesday. “I can confirm that Tendulkar underwent surgery in London on Monday and it went off well,” Indian cricket board secretary Karunakaran Nair said.
Nair said he was awaiting a report from the Indian team’s physiotherapist John Gloster, who is assisting Tendulkar in London, for further details.
“Before the surgery we were told Sachin may be out of action for four weeks. A clear picture will emerge only after receiving a medical report from Gloster.”
The surgery will keep Tendulkar out of a triangular one-day series in Sri Lanka in August which also features the West Indies. His chances of touring Zimbabwe in September for two Test matches also appear dim.
Tendulkar, 32, was plagued by a tennis elbow injury for almost a year which forced him to miss three major one-day tournaments and two home Tests against Australia.
The Asian Age quoted orthopaedic surgeon Andrew Wallace of London’s Saint John hospital as saying that the corrective surgery was successful.
“Sachin underwent a surgical procedure under local anaesthetic for a condition affecting the extensor tendons,” Wallace said.
“The procedure was successful and there were no complications. He should be fit to play top-level cricket in approximately 16 weeks.”
The prolific batsman is the world’s fourth-highest scorer in Test cricket with 10,134 runs in 123 matches, and needs just one century to surpass compatriot Sunil Gavaskar’s world record of 34 Test hundreds.
Tendulkar is also the world’s most successful one-day batsman with 13,644 runs and 38 centuries.
The elbow trouble was the latest in a series of injuries the master batsman has suffered in the past few years. He endured a back injury in 1999 and has since suffered toe, finger and ankle problems.
Tendulkar has been criticised by an unforgiving media in recent months for not batting in the aggressive manner he did at the start of his career 16 years ago.
Tendulkar enjoyed mixed success in recent home Tests against Pakistan as he hit three half-centuries in five innings but could not prevent the rivals from forcing a 1-1 draw.—AFP
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