How could this happen!

Well, anyone who reads the title of this post would be thinking it to be regarding South Africa's loss at the hands of India. However, though defending a total of 190 on board shocks everyone, a greater shock is something regarding Sachin Tendulkar having to opt out of the bilateral series owing to a hamstring injury. The reason for shock would not certainly be the absence of Sachin Tendulkar for the remaining four matches against the Proteas but the question here is will Sachin Tendulkar be fit for the upcoming world cup where Sachin Tendulkar is about to make his 6th appearance?

Another feature to be noted is that prior to every world cup, Sachin Tendulkar is found to be rested from the team atleast since the 1999 world cup played in England. Sachin Tendulkar was rested from two triangular series', one involving India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in India and the other involving India, Pakistan and England played at Sharjah. Owing to the absence of Sachin Tendulkar, India failed miserably especially in the matches against Pakistan despite there being the presence of Dravid, Azharuddin, Ganguly and Jadeja. And, the bowling department including Srinath, Kumble and Prasad couldn't save face for their team.

It was the absence of Sachin Tendulkar in the match against Zimbabwe that proved to be very costly for India which saw them struggle and end their world cup dreams in the super six stage itself of the world cup after their loss to Australia. Sachin Tendulkar had to leave to Mumbai owing to his father's death. With that apart, even prior to the world cup in 2003 at South Africa, Sachin Tendulkar was rested from the Indian squad in the series against West Indies and New Zealand, both the series which India lost. Sachin Tendulkar's next appearance was in the world cup regarding which nothing needs to be stated in particular.

However, as an exception, prior to the 2007 world cup, Sachin Tendulkar was available for the bilateral series against both Sri Lanka and West Indies and moreover, Sachin Tendulkar was awarded the man of the tournament in the series against West Indies no matter for what. This time, though Sachin Tendulkar was thought to be available for the bilateral series against South Africa and now he has to return owing to a hamstring injury as mentioned earlier. Statistics suggest that whenever Sachin Tendulkar was unavailable for tournaments prior to the world cup, India have fared well like in 1999 and 2003 and failed when he was available like in 2007.