BOMBAY, 24 May 2006 — Two cricketers, both prima donnas of their national sides, Sachin Tendulkar of India and Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar, have one common streak running through their careers.
The pock-marks of wounds of wear and tear do not show, but their bodies have taken a heavy toll, as can be seen from their occasional absence from the game.
Both today stand on the threshold of what could be a momentous decision over their fitness, as one prepares to join his colleagues in the West Indies and the other is waiting for a clearance to be on the team to England.
Tendulkar, who has had a break to his 17- year old career on almost half-a-dozen occasions, is just returning from his latest affliction on his right shoulder, which had forced him to have surgery done on it. However, his schedule toward passing a fitness test appears rather incomprehensible. After an eight-week layoff for recovery from the surgery, he started light exercise and then some work in the gymnasium.
It was only a week ago that he started hitting the cricket ball with the bat at the nets. At present, he is at the MRF Pace Foundation in Madras having more rigorous batting practice on specially- built fast wickets.
All that is fine. But a statement by the BCCI secretary said he will go through a fitness test on the very day that the selectors meet to select the Test squad, that is replacements for some of the places in the ODI team that is already there in the Caribbeans. Then he will immediately proceed, bag and baggage, to London to consult his surgeon, Andrew Wallace, for his clearance and then, he will either come back home or proceed from there to the West Indies.
In other words, the final decision on his fitness will have to be taken by his surgeon. His fate will thus be decided in the consultant’s clinic and not so much on the field of play, which is rather strange. Having played for so long, Tendulkar himself ought to know whether he can stand the strain of a difficult West Indies tour without having to play even a single practice match at home after his surgery.
For Shoaib Akhtar, who too has been out of action for a few months, it will, however, be a straight forward decision after playing in a couple of trial matches at home. The chairman of the selection committee of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Wasim Bari, said that he was quite impressed by the attitude of the fastest bowler in the world and his eagerness to make a comeback.
A veritable match-winner on his day, the tear away fast bowler will be badly required on the tough tour of England. But no one is making any concessions to his ultimate fitness.
