After the glory, the pain…

Sachin Tendulkar struggled with a groin strain (he then got injured while fielding, after Mahendra Singh Dhoni deflected an edge on to his left shoulder, but we’ll keep that one aside for now).

Dhoni himself has been attacked by back spasms that make it difficult for him to breathe. And with the gloves, throughout the second final in Brisbane, he collected throws with his left hand. His right palm and fingers are all taped up with bad bruises and soft-tissue injuries.

Yuvraj Singh’s knee — the one he injured during the Champions Trophy in 2006 — has been suspect for a while now. Arguably India’s best fielder, he’s avoiding fielding at point.

Irfan Pathan has a strain in his knee and Harbhajan Singh’s fingers are hurting. And outgoing physio John Gloster has almost finished of his stock of pain-killers, creams and injections.

Dhoni spoke from his heart as he gave credit to Gregory King and Gloster, both on their last assignment with the team —“for the support they gave the team and for making the players last the entire series.” There are many in the BCCI who wouldn’t understand these subtle messages, and the Indian skipper put it in as many words for their benefit.

“We need some rest. The amount of cricket we’re playing… you either take a break, or you break down. You get tired, exhausted… there will be a point when you need time to think about your cricket and other things.”

Relief over Pak decision

This team defied all odds; they defied the world champions, the hostile crowds (and the aggressive Aussie media), the challenging conditions — and some ludicrous scheduling by cricket’s commercially driven administrators.

In fact, there was a collective sense of relief in the camp when the BCCI regretted their inability to send a team to Pakistan for three one-dayers. At such short notice, even the board couldn’t have accommodated them.

So far, there’s been talk revolving around rotating the fast bowlers. But even the emergence of Ishant and Praveen Kumar has had more to do with injuries to Zaheer Khan and RP Singh, rather than any planned breaks.

No time for bikes

Dhoni admits he has passions other than cricket — his bikes, for one — but there’s no time for anything else. “I’ve not ridden my bike for a long time now. If it had gone to the last game, we would have boarded flight on the 9th… that would’ve given us hardly any time to relax and switch off, or spend time with our families,” he said.

And it’s not that cricketers around the world have such hectic schedules. Cricket Australian ensures their team never arrives in a block of three months — Australia came to India last October-November to play one-day series, and will return this October for a separate three-Test series.

Even Sri Lanka, the third team in this triangular, came to Australia for the Test matches in December before heading back home and returning in February for the one-dayers.

It might work for the BCCI — the entire set of functionaries has had their turn in making an official visit to Australia in the last three months. But irrespective of how many crores they splash every time the team triumphs, it’s high time they realise the fatigue and injuries these long tours can cause.

Harbhajan Singh

Avoided a hip dislocation after his victory dance, but his spinning fingers are sore after three months of bowling

Ishant Sharma

Was on pain-killers for an injured toe before blood vessels in his fingers cut open and forced him to sit out of the second final

Sachin Tendulkar

Went off the field in Brisbane after a deflection from Dhoni’s gloves rattled into his left shoulder. But even before that, he was struggling with a groin strain

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Has bruises and cuts on all fingers of his right hand. He’s also suffering from back spasms (for which he received on-field attention) that make breathing difficult at timesIrfan PathanThe last-over hero is struggling with a strained knee

Yuvraj Singh

Arguably India’s best fielder, he avoids standing at point to make sure his left knee doesn’t give up on him again