Sachin Tendulkar suffered as many injuries as me, but his mental strength was immense: Ashish Nehra

Ashish Nehra’s career was plagued by injuries and the Indian pacer spent a lot of the time on the sidelines. However, he believes batting legend Sachin Tendulkar too didn’t have great luck when it came to injuries but he took it in his strides thanks to his mental make up.

“Many people say that I had many injuries but Tendulkar too had many injuries,” Nehra said during Star Sport’s show Cricket Connected.

“But despite that he kept on playing and performing. It was not easy for him as he always had huge pressure on him to perform. Sachin was mentally very tough, very strong,” he added.

Recalling Tendulkar’s hundred against Kenya in the 1999 World Cup, just days after his father’s passing, VVS Laxman felt it was one of his most memorable innings.

“Sachin was very proud of his upbringing. His father was an inspiration and a role model for him. He always tried to follow his father,” Laxman said during the show.

Watch: When Tendulkar scored an emotional ton at 1999 WC – just days after his father’s death

“He told me later that the flight he took from London to Mumbai after his father passed away felt very long. But his mother and brother Ajit told him that his father would be happy if he went back and played in the World Cup and he came back and scored a century against Kenya four days later,” Laxman added.

“He may have scored a hundred centuries but he will remember that ton. He dedicated it to his father. After that he used to dedicated all his records, milestones to his father,” Laxman continued.

How to cope after ban on use of saliva?

Nehra and Laxman also weighed in on the ban on the use of saliva by the International Cricket Council that has split opinions in world cricket. Laxman felt there was a need to maintain the balance between the bat and the ball after the new rules were put in place by the world body.

“Batsmen will benefit more from the ban on saliva, there is no doubt about it,” Laxman said.

“So there will have to be balance between bat and ball and that can be achieved by bowler-friendly wickets. If you leave a bit of grass on the wicket, you’ll get more lateral movement. Kookaburra ball doesn’t swing much after 20 overs and you don’t expect it to reverse swing a lot too. So if you can have some help for the bowlers from the pitch, it would make it competitive,” he added.

Read: Kids won’t want to be bowlers: Starc says ball-tampering rules should be relaxed after saliva ban

Nehra felt it was important for bowlers to understand and get used to the new rules.

“No one can answer if sweat is a good substitute for saliva. Unless you try something you can’t tell if it works or not,” the former Indian pacer said.

“So I think you need to give bowlers time ahead of a series to prepare and train according to the new rules. In England, you don’t sweat a lot so you need to give bowlers time before a series to prepare,” he added.

Watch the full episode of Cricket Connected here