Ageing Tendulkar advised MRI after hit on head

Ageing Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar’s reflexes are being questioned after he was hit on his head by a sharply lifting delivery from Brett Lee while batting in the tri-series match against Australia.

India lost the match by a disgraceful 110 runs as the batting ‘maestro’ managed just 3 runs in 12 deliveries.

Tendulkar seemed to have misread the pace and lift of the final delivery of Lee’s second over, which hit the grill of his helmet and bounced off to mid-on where it was fielded. However, it was later disclosed that Tendulkar had received a blow on his forehead from that delivery, which was deflected on to just above his right eye.

The hit shook the ageing batsman so much that his innings ended on the very next ball he faced, albeit from another bowler, Ben Hilfenhaus. Tendulkar was given ice treatment on the swelling in the dressing room after his dismissal, and a precautionary MRI scan has been recommended.

Tendulkar has been waiting for his 100th century in international cricket for almost a year now, with his last ton made on March 12, 2011, in Nagpur against the visiting South Africa.

Since then, the legend has struggled to find form and hasn’t reached the milestone 100 runs in an inning needed for him to complete the feat of recording 100 centuries in test and ODIs.

Former India skipper Ravi Shastri recently went on record urging Tendulkar to stay true to his game and “forget about the milestone” as the wait for his landmark 100th international century continues.

“If he just keeps the tempo going and forgets about the milestone, just treat the bowling on merit, he’ll be fine,” Shastri was quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald.

Shastri detected a change in the batsman’s tactics in the Melbourne and Sydney Tests, when he passed 50 with ease only to tighten up because of the situation.

“Two balls to go before stumps he was extra cautious in the last 10 minutes of play at the MCG. That means he changed his game from the way he was playing till he reached 70 and that brought about his downfall,” Shastri said.

Although Tendulkar has managed to clock 99 international centuries, India has not been a net beneficiary of his bravados, especially of late as the batsman has been accused by some Indian cricket fans as batting for himself rather than his country.

Of Tendulkar’s last 12 one-day centuries, India managed a win in only five – or less than half – of the matches, while in Test matches, India managed a win in 7 of his last 14 tons.

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