Tendulkar's injury not serious, says manager Thakur

Mumbai:

Sachin Tendulkar, sporting a cut mark on his cheek following a fall in his hotel on Tuesday, and a few other Indian team members, including skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, arrived here on Friday after the team's dismal ICC Champions Trophy campaign in South Africa.

Altogether eight members of the downcast Indian team, along with support staff, arrived in two batches at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.

Tendulkar, who missed India's last Champions Trophy tie because of food poisoning, came with Yusuf Pathan and Abhishek Nayar, team manager Anurag Thakur, physio Nitin Patel and masseur Ramesh Mane in the first batch.

Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, R P Singh, Suresh Raina and Praveen Kumar, comprising the second batch, arrived a few hours later by another flight while the other team members went directly to their destinations.

Tendulkar's left eye looked swollen when he and other players were whisked away from the airport, much to the disappointment of the waiting media.

The cut on Tendulkar's cheek was the result of his fall in his Johannesburg hotel room when he passed out because of food poisoning after having dinner with Dhoni and some other teammates on the eve of India's last league match against West Indies.

Tendulkar fell flat on his face and was lucky not to have broken his nose even though the collapse left him with a cut mark and a black spot on his nose.

Team manager Anurag Thakur said after his arrival that the injury was not serious and was the result of the cricketer feeling dehydrated due to food poisoning.

"He had food poisoning and was possibly dehydrated. He was feeling weak and that was the reason why he felt giddy and hurt himself in the hotel room. But the injury to his cheek is not serious. He is perfectly fine now," Thakur said.

Thakur pointed out that the batting maestro was present in the ground when India played their last league match against the West Indies on September 30.

"He was present in the ground and he's perfectly fine now. He was not well that day," Thakur said.

According to media reports, Tendulkar, captain Dhoni, Ashish Nehra and Harbhajan Singh had gone to an Indian restaurant in Johannesburg for dinner on September 29.

When he returned to his hotel room, Tendulkar felt dizzy, lost consciousness and hurt himself when he fell on the table in his room.

A cut near his nose and another below his left eye as a result of the fall were indications of the impact of his fall, the reports said. He subsequently skipped the match against the West Indies.

India were knocked out of the Champions Trophy before the semifinal stage of the tournament after they finished third in the four-team group, behind Pakistan and Australia and ahead of the West Indies.

Dhoni and his men lost the opening match to Pakistan, shared points with Australia when the match got washed out because of rains and won the tie against the West Indies. The next assignment for the Indians is the seven-ODI home series against Australia commencing at Baroda on October 25.