Sachin Tendulkar's career has been plagued by injuries too often in the last few years, making him miss quite a few matches and perhaps diminishing his abilities as a world class batsman.
Tendulkar, who made his one-day international debut against Pakistan in 1989, played injury-free for a decade before missing his first One Day International, against New Zealand in 1999.
ODIs missed by Tendulkar
| One match | v New Zealand in New Zealand | January 1999 |
| 5 matches | Pepsi Cup in India | March/April 1999 |
| 5 matches | Coca Cola Cup in Sharjah | April 1999 |
| One match | Aiwa Cup in Sri Lanka | August 1999 |
| One match | Coca Cola Cup in Singapore | September 1999 |
| 3 matches | DMC Cup in Canada | September 1999 |
| 4 matches | LG Cup in Kenya | September/October 1999 |
| 7 matches | Coca Cola Cup in Sri Lanka | July/August 2001 |
| 5 matches | v Zimbabwe in India | March 2002 |
| One match | v West Indies in West Indies | June 2002 |
| 7 matches | v West Indies in India | November 2002 |
| 4 matches | v New Zealand in New Zealand | December 2002/January 2003 |
| 5 matches | TVS Cup in Bangladesh | April 2003 |
| 3 matches | VB Series in Australia | January/February 2004 |
| 2 matches | Videocon Cup in Holland | August 2004 |
| 3 matches | NatWest Challenge in England | September 2004 |
| 2 matches | ICC Champions Trophy in England | September 2004 |
| 5 matches | Videocon Tri-Series in Zimbabwe | August/September 2005 |
| 6 matches | v England in India | March/April 2006 |
| 2 matches | v Pakistan in Abu Dhabi | April 2006 |
| 5 matches | v West Indies in West Indies | May 2006 |
Total: 77 ODIs
Note: Although Tendulkar missed out 96 matches since his ODI debut, he had to sit out not only due to injury, but also because he was either not selected/rested to play a youngster/or for personal reasons.
Also read: 'Sachin has lost his fighting abilities'
* * * * * * * * *
A look at Tendulkar's performance in his comeback series shows that he has enjoyed mixed success. His best showing was the TVS Cup in 2003-2004, when he scored 466 runs in 7 matches at an average of 77, with 2 centuries and 2 half-centuries. He, however, had a rather forgetful comeback in the series in New Zealand, when he made just 2 runs in 3 matches against the Kiwis.
Tendulkar's performance in the comeback series
(soon after missing some matches because of injury)
Minimum qualification: missed at least FIVE matches in between two successive appearances
| | Mts | Inns | NO | Runs | Hs | Avg | 100 | 50 | Mts missed |
| v West Indies in West Indies, 2001-02 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 99 | 65 | 99.00 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| v New Zealand in New Zealand, 2002-03 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0.66 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| TVS Cup in India, 2003-04 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 466 | 102 | 77.66 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| v Bangladesh in Bangladesh, 2004-05 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 66 | 47 | 33.00 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| v Sri Lanka in India, 2005-06 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 231 | 93 | 46.20 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| DLF Cup in Kuala Lumpur, 2006-07 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 222 | 141* | 74.00 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
Statistics: Rajneesh Gupta
Photographs: Getty Images
Advertisement
