Mumbai: Sachin Tendulkar, who missed the ICC Champions Trophy due to a tennis elbow, is keeping fingers crossed on playing the high-profile home series against Australia next month.

?I really want to play against the Australians in the home series (commencing October 6 in Bangalore)? It is truly frustrating to be sidelined due to injury when your teammates are playing in the middle,? said Tendulkar, who returned from England on Tuesday.

?It is important to be completely fit when you are facing the Australians and I hope I?ll recover in time for the series though I?ll have a fair idea of how well my injury has healed towards the end of this month by the time Andrew Leipus returns to India,? he added.

On the treatment he underwent in England, after missing the tri-series in Holland and the Champions Trophy, Tendulkar, said: ?The shock treatment I underwent was extremely painful, but the level of pain has subsided and I am hoping to be fit soon. ?Though injuries are part and parcel of a sportsperson?s career, I never thought I?d have problems before an important meet like the Champions Trophy.

?I have to be very careful while using the left hand and guard it even while playing with my children. I have been advised by Dr Ananth Joshi to not even drive or even lift anything with my left hand,? Tendulkar revealed. (PTI)