Thought My Career Was Over,” Said Tendulkar, Reflecting On The Most Difficult Period Of His Life.

Sachin Tendulkar, in an interview , spoke about his emotions during the tough phase.

Sachin Tendulkar is India's all-time leading wicket-taker, the only batsman to have scored 100 international hundreds. He also holds the record for the highest number of runs in Tests and One Day Internationals (ODIs). Over the course of his 24-year career, Tendulkar has broken many records. However, Tendulkar faced a difficult period in his career when he sustained an elbow injury which threatened to end his career early. In an interview with India Today, Tendulkar discussed his emotions during this difficult period.

Tennis elbow is a very painful condition and many friends of mine have suffered from it after a while. When they weren't suffering from it, they would talk about how painful it is; it can't be so painful that you can't even swing a cricket bat, they said. I told them that you have to experience it at least once and then you'll know. It was like being locked in a room and you can't open the door. It was that bad.

He further reminisced about expressing gratitude to God upon his return to the field. "Just recently, I was playing with some children who were using a plastic ball and bat, which reminded me of my tennis elbow. Because I had started playing with a plastic bat again, I could barely make contact with the ball. During my first outing after 3.5 months, 12-year-old kids were effortlessly stopping the powerful cover drives that I was attempting to hit, as if they were 10-15 years older." 

 "I believed my career was over, finished. All I could pray to God was: please don't let my career end like this, allow me to return to the field again. I can never forget that feeling after 4.5 months when we played a one-day match against Sri Lanka in Nagpur. I looked up and expressed my gratitude to God for that moment. This is all I desired, to be back on the pitch," he stated.