Tendulkar will be back in action soon

Surely no part of any cricketer's anatomy has been so analysed, discussed and bisected as Sachin Tendulkar's back. Cricket fans have expressed anxiety over how acute the problem is. One national newsmagazine has carried an extensive cover story asking whether Tendulkar's career is finished. Another has a lengthy analytical report.

Ever since the problem first cropped up during his gallant century in a losing cause in the Chennai Test against Pakistan in January, there has much speculation to the cause and the effect it will have on Tendulkar and Indian cricket itself in the long run. When the problem resurfaced during the camp at Chennai prior to the team's departure for the competitions in Sri Lanka and Singapore, the Indian captain consulted doctors. When the back pain persisted and affected his batting in the two tournaments, Tendulkar, realising the gravity of the situation, lost no time in dropping out of the series in Toronto and hastened to Australia to seek the advice of doctors there. The Chennai based MRF Pace Foundation which has a tie up with the Australian Cricket Academy in Adelaide helped him make the trip and Tendulkar took along with him Ajit Agarkar for treatment to his hamstring problem.

Now after consulting Australian medical experts, Tendulkar said on Tuesday that he was confident of a full return to fitness in about three or four weeks. According to the Indian captain, he has been informed by doctors at the Australian Cricket Academy that he had defects in his lower vertebrae and a scar tissue had formed which occasionally became inflamed and caused the pain in the back.

It is a big relief to all of us in India that the problem is not a major one and can be healed in a short time. Tendulkar himself was relieved to know the exact nature of the problem which makes treatment that much easier. But he will have to do some special exercises for the rest of his career. All these have clearly been chalked out for him and it is now up to Tendulkar to overcome the problem and get back in action.

One's mind goes back about a quarter of a century when another famous cricketer had a severe back problem. Dennis Lillee, already an established fast bowler for Australia was stricken by acute back pain on the tour of West Indies in 1973. As he recounts in his autobiography he underwent a number of lengthy exercise routines and painful treatment which took him over a year. But he overcame the problem and went on to play for Australia for a decade on his way to becoming arguably the greatest Australian fast bowler of all time. Hopefully Lillee's example will serve as an inspiration to Tendulkar. All the same it is important that he takes the maximum rest possible in between cricketing engagements.