NEWS
OTHER SPORTS
DIARY
PEOPLE
MATCH REPORTS
SLIDE SHOW
ARCHIVES

Back problem no threat to Sachin's career

Sachin Tendulkar today hinted he would miss most of the triangular one-day series between India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, starting in India on March 19.

"But I will definitely be ready for the World Cup," Tendulkar said today on his return from London, where he was treated by a backbone specialist Ken Kennedy.

Tendulkar had gone to London to diagnose the exact nature of the problem with his back. It hadn't been able to carry his weight during the recent Indo-Pakistan series.

Tendulkar has already been rested for the first two matches of the triangular series but said the doctor has advised him two weeks of further rest. Describing the sudden first serious physical reversal in his ten-year international cricket career, Tendulkar said he still was a little stiff since the vertebrae of his lower back were damaged.

"But the modern treatment has worked well and now I don't have to wear a strap," he said, adding that the real test would come when he has a hard session at the nets.

For now, Tendulkar said, he is preoccupied with his ailing father, who was hospitalised a week ago after he complained of chest pains.

Until such time as he is fit again, Tendulkar plans to do stretching exercises recommended by the doctor, who was recommended to him by former Australian captain Ian Chapell, who was himself treated by Kennedy successfully.

Tendulkar said Kennedy asked him to play some shadow shots to help pinpoint the problem. He then pronounced that the back problem was not as serious as was feared.

Board of Control for Cricket in India President Raj Singh Dungarpur said he would not like ask Tendulkar when he would be ready to play again at a time the master bat was worried about his father's health.