Sachin Tendulkar played through a lot of pain during CB Series in 2008, reveals Robin Uthappa

Former India opening batter Robin Uthappa as revealed that master blaster Sachin Tendulkar wasn’t feeling well physically during team India’s historic Commonwealth Bank series triumph in the year 2008 Down Under. It was Tendulkar’s two match-winning innings in the finals of the tournament against rivals Australia which set up the victory for India.

That the master blaster was battling pain and still ended up, scoring 399 runs in 10 matches was down to Tendulkar’s desire to beat Australia at their own backyard without needing to play the third final.  Uthappa was there in the squad as the opener and he stitched two vital partnerships of 50 and 94 respectively with Tendulkar to give the Men in blue a good start. He could not believe how the former legendary cricketer batted through pain.

Uthappa in awe of legendary cricketer Tendulkar’s determination

“You won’t believe it, Sachin Tendulkar… I call him paaji. He played with a lot of pain in that Commonwealth Bank series. He was not ok physically and he played through a lot of pain. There were times when he would wince in pain. We would ask him if he’s ok and he’ll be like ‘I’m fine’. He would always put the requirement of the team ahead and he would always do that. He played through a lot of pain,” Uthappa said on The Grade Cricketer Podcast.

Tendulkar was certainly the difference between the two teams in the finals as his game-changing 117 in Sydney-his first ODI century in Australia allowed India to take the lead in the best of the three finals. Then he carried his form in the second match at MCG where he scored 91 and allowed India to end the tour on a high.

“I remember we had a conversation with him in that series where he said ‘Robin, it’s so hard to keep yourself fit after 32, 33 and 34, because it gets that much more challenging, Injuries start taking a toll. I was just 21 or 22 when I had that conversation and I said ‘no paaji, you’re just saying this’. He said ‘Robin, when you’re 35, let’s have a conversation and see if you agree with me or not.’ And today at 35, I want to tell you, he was bang on,” Uthappa added.

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