ISLAMABAD, Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar has recalled an injury he suffered from Pakistani pacer Shoaib Akhtar’s delivery during Pakistan’s India tour of 2007, saying he wasn’t able to cough or sleep for a month or so.
During Pakistan’s India tour of 2007, Sachin Tendulkar copped a blow to his rib cage when facing Shoaib Akhtar in an ODI but he continued to play including touring Australia in the coming months despite being in considerable pain.
Tendulkar didn’t realise the injury even as he had trouble coughing or even sleeping on his tummy for nearly two months. “I got hit in my rib cage in 2007,” news18.com quoted Tendulkar as saying.
“We were playing Pakistan in India and in the first over itself I got hit in the rib cage off a Shoaib Akhtar ball. It was quite painful. For a month and a half or two months, I was not able to cough or sleep on my tummy.”
He continued, “But I continued playing like that and had designed my own chest guard. I played the remaining four ODIs and the Test series. Before going to Australia as well, I played whatever cricket there was.”
After hosting Pakistan for three Tests and a five-match ODI series in 2007, India then toured Australia for four Tests and VB tri-series also featuring Sri Lanka. Tendulkar was part of both the tours.
However, in Australia, he suffered a groin injury following which he underwent a full body scan after returning home. It was then the doctor told Tendulkar that he may also have a broken rib.
“When I went to Australia, I played the whole series – we played the VB series and towards the end of it, I had a groin injury. I came back to India and we did a full body scan. At that time, it was the doctor who told me about it,” Tendulkar recalled.
“I did not ask him about my rib, I was worried about my groin injury because the IPL was going to start. But I couldn’t get fit in time and missed the first seven matches.
But the doctor told me that there was a hotspot. You must have broken your rib at some stage. It troubled me for two months,” he said.
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