Tendulkar optimistic about recovery chances

Tendulkar: "I have overcome most of the obstacles" © Getty Images

Sachin Tendulkar has said that his recovery from injury could happen earlier than anticipated. He said that he had been following the rehab programme advised by his doctors and physio, and would return only after all concerned were happy with his recovery.

Tendulkar said that injuries were a part of any sportsman's life. "If you are going to consistently push yourself hard, injuries are going to happen. At competitive levels in any sport, it's very normal to see the players go down with injuries," he told The Hindu. "As far as I am concerned, it's part and parcel of any sport. When injuries have happened to me, I have overcome most of the obstacles."

Tendulkar also said that it was natural that his body would change over the course of this long cricket-playing career. "The cricketers' bodies are also like that of normal human beings," he said. "We are probably in better shape, but it's to grow and deteriorate at stages and at a certain point one has to realise that his body cannot take it anymore. My body has not remained the same in the last 16 years."

Tendulkar further said that his role in the team was vastly different from what it had been in the start of his career. "I was aggressive when I started off, with others like Dilip Vengsarkar, Ravi Shastri, playing different roles," he said. "Then there were Azhar and Sidhu. Now I have reached that level, with Veeru (Sehwag), Yuvraj playing different roles. It's what the team needs and not about an individual. Eventually when all the things come together, it clicks."