— PHOTO: AP

TESTING TIMES: Sachin Tendulkar and his wife Anjali arrive at the Mumbai international airport on Saturday. The little master left for London where he would undergo a surgery on his right shoulder.

Chennai: Sachin Tendulkar stared at yet another challenge when he left Mumbai on Saturday with wife Anjali for London. The maestro will be operated on his right shoulder (a posterior labrum tear) by Dr. Andrew Wallace on Monday.

Since he needs around eight weeks to recover, Tendulkar has been ruled out of the ODI series against England. There is a question mark about his availability for India's tour of West Indies as well.

Start-stop-start mode

Tendulkar's increasing list of injuries has seen him slip into a `start-stop-start' mode depriving the champion batsman of rhythm. Resultantly, he finds himself in the middle of the most inconsistent phase of his Test career.

Rhythm is a key ingredient of batsmanship and is often found through continuity. It's not just about striking the ball from the sweet portion of the willow, but moving into a state where body and mind are in harmony.

Seventeen years of international cricket has taken its toll on this phenomenal batsman. It was at Chennai in 1999 that Tendulkar conjured a great Test hundred withstanding shooting back pain in that humdinger against Pakistan. And then an injury to his right toe kept him out of India's tour of Sri Lanka in 2001.

But no injury has hurt Tendulkar as much as the tennis elbow, which first surfaced during the Vidoecon tri-series in Amsterdam, 2004. Subsequently, Tendulkar's career has alternated between sunshine and darkness.

Ahead of the tennis elbow crisis, Tendulkar constructed two major Test innings, unbeaten efforts of 241 and 194 in Sydney and Multan respectively. His innings in Sydney saw him use the bottom hand extensively; a majority of his strokes were on the on-side.

Subsequently, he attempted to bring his top-hand into play more often and stroke frequently through the off-side; the use of the top-hand can lead to tennis elbow in batsmen who could be vulnerable to this injury.

Tendulkar missed the ICC Champions Trophy and the first two Tests against Australia at home. He returned just eight and two in his comeback Test at Nagpur, scored five in the first innings in Mumbai before producing a match-winning 55 on a minefield in the second.

Falters

When the South Africans arrived, he faltered, averaging only 27.50 in the two-Test series; he was also experimenting with a lighter bat since his heavy willow was thought to be one of the causes for the tennis elbow.

A brighter period arrived. His unbeaten double century in Dhaka saw him catch up with Sunil Gavaskar's 34 Test centuries. Importantly, Tendulkar enjoyed a productive series against Pakistan at home collecting 255 runs in three Tests at 51.00.

But then, another setback followed. Tendulkar came under surgeon Wallace's knife (for treating tennis elbow) during May 2005 and was off cricket for six months. He could not be a part of India's tour of Zimbabwe.

Test record

He returned with runs against the visiting Sri Lankans in both forms of the game at home. Among his efforts was a record 35th hundred in New Delhi.

In Pakistan, Shoaib Akhtar's extra pace appeared to trouble him in Tests — Tendulkar has denied his reflexes have slowed down — although he sizzled in the ODIs with the injured Akhtar off the firing line. And against England, he has clearly struggled averaging just 20.75 in three Tests.

At 32, Tendulkar may still have a few years of cricket in him; batsmen do last longer. Meanwhile, the `start-stop' phase for him continues.

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