Exclusive: Sachin returns

After a long injury lay-off, the Master Blaster is back in action. He wants Team India to focus on the upcoming tournaments and built a momentum for next year’s World Cup. In an exclusive chat to CNN-IBN he also talks about his injury and the Independence Day celebration during his childhood.

Nishant Arora:One man’s comeback in Indian cricket is eagerly expected and he is none other than master blaster Sachin Tendulkar. He is here to talk about his injury, his comeback and his future plans.

Sachin many thanks for joining us on CNN-IBN. You must be very happy to be back with these boys and must be waiting for the moment when you walk in to play for India again.

Sachin Tendulkar: Yes, I am extremely happy to be back again, because it was very tough to be away from the team. And it was a forced break, so I didn’t have any option. But it’s nice to be back again after four and half months.

Nishant Arora: You had a quite long camp in Bangalore and before that you were playing in England and now we have seen some strenuous net sessions in Sri Lanka. How is your shoulder taking all that?

Sachin Tendulkar: I think the shoulder is holding up quite nicely and the workload have gradually increased because I had to follow a particular programme which was given to me by doctors and the physios. And from grade one it went to grade two and now grade three and grade four and so on. It’s been pretty good and batting was never a problem, it was occasional throwing and bowling that was a bit of pain. But it settled down quite nicely and I am feeling quite positive about it.

Nishant Arora: You had quite a few injuries and it has been a long career and they are bound to happen at some stage. I read somewhere you said, every injury teaches you something. What have these injuries taught you?

Sachin Tendulkar: This was a different sort of injury where the surgeon in England told me that your bicep is also damaged. So we have to operate on that. So, it was extremely tough. Something that I learnt from this injury is patience and to follow a programme and if you are feeling ok, not to go overboard because there are certain setbacks. And you realise if I was asked to bowl only 20 balls per day, I shouldn’t be bowling 45 balls. Because at that particular moment you may feel good, and on the next day if you want to progress to 90 balls, you would suddenly realise that I am going to feel stretched I need to pull back a little bit. And it’s kind of a semi backward step I would say. One thing that I learnt during the injury is to follow a programme religiously.

Nishant Arora: Seventeen years is a long time and during this time you scored almost 20,000 or more than 20,000 international runs. And it must have taken its toll. But when you look back at your career, are you happy with whatever has happened?

Sachin Tendulkar: Yes, I am a very positive person and I don’t have any regrets. Sometimes you are disappointed with certain things that you are not able to achieve, but you always want to move forward and that is what I believe in. Always move forward and carry the positive thoughts and positive things.

Nishant Arora: When you look at your batting, what kind of Sachin we are going to see? When you came back after the last injury, you were like the Sachin we always know. During this time have you ever thought about your game plan? What kinds of game plan do you going to have? Because there is the World Cup coming up, very important for India.

Sachin Tendulkar: Yes, World Cup is still five-six months away and there are important tournaments before that. So, let us first focus on those tournaments. Back of our minds we are thinking about the World Cup and planning accordingly. It is also important we perform equally well in these tournaments so that the foundation becomes solid before the World Cup. Talking about my personal batting, we all play according to the requirements of the team and if I am given a particular job, I would bat accordingly, it is as simple as that. It is a team game, so the team’s strategy is important and there are certain players who would play bigger shots and certain player who would pick singles and stay there. It depends upon what sort of strategy we have on that particular day.

Nishant Arora: Sachin, coming back to this tournament, this is a very big tournament, Three very good One-Day sides participating against each other. How it can be a stepping stone towards the long term goal, which is obviously the World Cup.

Sachin Tendulkar: It is important because I would say every time in last four-five years, we have been regularly coming to Sri Lanka and season a kind of begins in Sri Lanka. This is the beginning of our season and to gather momentum is extremely important. And that is what we would be focusing at to try and gather momentum as quickly as possible and pick it at the right time.

Nishant Arora: August 15^th is a very special day for every Indian. So, what are your feeling on this special day?

Sachin Tendulkar: It is extremely special for all of us. August 15^th when I see the Tricolour and hear National Anthem, it gives me goose bumps. I feel extremely proud to be an Indian and it’s a day to remember the great freedom fighters who sacrificed so many things to bring freedom to our country. And I think giving freedom and independence to someone is the best thing one can get. Sometimes, I would say the new generation, people from my era would say, tend to take freedom for granted. We have not seen the other side of the coin. How people fought for freedom and independence. So many difficulties, so many obstacles were there and in spite of all that, they were prepared to fight for us. And here we are now sitting in a very comfortable position. It is time to pay respect to all the great leaders.

Nishant Arora: Any special memory, childhood memory, anything you used to do as a child? Off course as a teenager you must be playing Kanga League matches during this time.

Sachin Tendulkar: Yes, as a teenager we played Kanga League matches, but August 15^th was always a special day and obviously January 26^th. One thing, which was always dear to us, was the flag. And we felt very proud holding the flag on the morning. Early morning we had a bath

and would get ready holding a flag on hand. And always there used to be senior people in our building and in our colony, one of them used to do the flag hoisting and that was memorable moment. Every year it grew on us and now we exactly understand what great leader had done for us.

Nishant Arora: One last thing. Now you are the senior member of this side. Young people look to you, not only from this team, the country at large. What kind of message you like to give to youngsters of India on this special day?

Sachin Tendulkar: All I want to say is the August 15^th is time to remember our great leaders and respect them. Don’t take freedom for granted. People have fought very hard for it. I come from the country when it already had independence. I have not seen the other side of India and hopefully won’t get to see that. It’s wonderful to be an Indian and billion of people who stay together during any crisis is special.

Nishant Arora: Thank you Sachin. Thanks for talking to us and as you are proud of India, we are proud of you. We hope you keep on doing better. Thank you so much.

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