Indian batsman Robin Uthappa, who was part of the famous 2008 CB Series victory in Australia, has revealed India batting great Sachin Tendulkar was in pain during the tri-nation tournament but he still went on to score 399 runs, the second most after Gautam Gambhir (440).

Tendulkar had twin injuries in the CB series. He was hit on his rib cage during an ODI in India ahead of the tri-nation tournament, and the second injury was a groin issue that he suffered on the Australia tour.

“You won’t believe it, Sachin Tendulkar, I call him paaji – he played with a lot of pain in that Commonwealth Bank series,” Uthappa said on The Grade Cricketer Podcast. 

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“He was not OK physically and he played through a lot of pain. There were times when he would wince in pain. We would ask him if he’s OK and he’ll be like ‘I’m fine’. He would always put the requirement of the team ahead and he would always do that. He played through a lot of pain.”

Uthappa had asked for fitness advice for cricketers in 30s from Tendulkar, who was almost 35 back then. Being in his early 20s, he didn't pay much attention to it but now he realizes the ex-India captain was spot on with his advice.

“I remember we had a conversation with him in that series where he said ‘Robin, it’s so hard to keep yourself fit after 32, 33, and 34, because it gets that much more challenging, Injuries start taking a toll,” Uthappa recalled.

He continued, “I was just 21 or 22 when I had that conversation and I said ‘no paaji, you’re just saying this’. He said ‘Robin, when you’re 35, let’s have a conversation and see if you agree with me or not.’ And today at 35, I want to tell you, he was bang on.”