Retiring, Hurt?

Even before a single ball of the NatWest Challenge one-day cricket series between India and England had been bowled, the home team had already picked up a huge psychological advantage. Three days before the first game, Sachin Tendulkar had been ruled unfit to play the entire three-match series.

Tendulkar had already caused Indian fans no little concern, because he'd been unable to play a single match in the preceding tri-series against Pakistan and Australia in Holland. The reason, that he was suffering from tennis elbow on his left arm, was not in itself a major fear.

Tennis elbow is a fairly common injury across a variety of active sports, affecting everyone from club-level players upwards. It's often easily treated, sometimes with nothing more than rest and ice, though more severe cases can require specialised treatment and surgery.

But the concern with Tendulkar is different. The tennis elbow is just the most recent instalment in a long series of injuries that have troubled the batting maestro at various times in his career. Could this be close to the last straw, with the cumulative effect of all those injuries finally beginning to establish that while the mind and spirit were willing to go on, that tough, stocky frame is finally saying, "Enough"?

Sachin has to retire eventually, of course, but the idea of Indian cricket without Tendulkar is nevertheless a deeply unsettling thought. That's why Anant Joshi's words should come as a relief to Indian cricket fans. Mumbai-based Joshi is arguably one of the best sports medicine experts in this part of the globe, and is also a consultant with the Board of Control for Cricket in India. "I don't think this will have an impact on his batting. He has been playing for so long, there is bound to be some wear and tear on his body. But don't forget that Tendulkar works harder than most players on his fitness; he is one of the most particular," says Joshi.

Over the years, Tendulkar has also taken the time to keep abreast of evolving trends in fitness. As Joshi says, "He's grown much more conscious about fitness. And like Gavaskar, he has learned to use a daily game of badminton or tennis in the off-season to stay in shape."

"Also, injuries happen to everyone. And look at people like (Australian fast bowler) Glenn McGrath; he has also suffered (career-disrupting) injuries. Yet look at what happened when Zaheer Khan kept getting injured, or Saurav Ganguly had a thigh injury, and now Sachin—and how the media has covered them. Indian players are much more under the microscope. So their injuries often seem much more serious and frequent," he explains.

That is entirely possible. Yet part of the blame must also lie with the way the game is played today. For all but the most serious cricket fans, the action is in one-day internationals (ODIs), not in Test matches. It's also where most of the money is. Between the attentions of sponsors, the game's governing bodies and the players themselves, modern cricketers play a lot of ODIs, as many as 40-45 a year. This doesn't leave too many days in between matches. This is important, because the contemporary game has also become much more stressful, demanding sustained levels of intensity, mental strength and physical fitness that earlier generations of players may have had to summon perhaps five to ten times a year.

Joshi agrees that this is a factor. "The complexion of the game has changed. It's more of a power game, it's more stressful, and so there will be more injuries." The time between matches often isn't enough for players to recover, especially if they are carrying an injury: "They may not regain full fitness then," he says.

The irony is that today's players are far fitter than their predecessors were, in fact far fitter than they themselves were just a few years ago.For instance, at 23, quick bowler Ashish Nehra had a gentle paunch and arms that looked best in long sleeves. Today the belly has vanished, with whipcord muscles replacing all the flab. Yet few will gamble on when even someone who has made such a visible effort to boost his fitness will next break down, because the demands of the one-day game are rising even faster than players' fitness levels. "The game needs more work today, though players are actually fitter," says Joshi.

As things stand currently, it's highly unlikely that we've seen the last of Tendulkar. But it is equally likely that we haven't seen the last of his injury-propelled absence from the game either. And quite apart from the specific impact on Tendulkar, the effect of his absences on the Indian team's performance has to be a significant concern for cricket fans.

It's a telling statistic that India's performance has been significantly better in the one-day matches that Tendulkar has played in (the number of Tests he's had to skip—three—is too small to draw any meaningful conclusion on India's showing in Tests sans Tendulkar). Still, it's common for cricket fans everywhere to cavil that Tendulkar plays really well only when it doesn't matter, and that he rarely fires when India desperately needs him to. While the stats certainly demonstrate that he matters hugely in India's scheme of things, they cannot answer this rather trenchant criticism.

There's also another aspect to Tendulkar's absences. He has missed 65 matches through injury since his debut, sometimes several matches in a row, as is happening at present. The absence of a player as good as Tendulkar is a great opportunity for another player to stand up and be noticed. Yet this has happened on just a handful of occasions. Put crudely, it's like saying, "Tendulkar may not win the matches that matter for us, but so what? Who on earth are we going to replace him with?"

Precisely. Which is why Indian fans will even deal with the odd humiliating defeat by a rejuvenated England side, if that is the price they have to pay to see their hero firing on all cylinders again.