Hyderabad: Sachin Tendulkar, who completes 16 years of international cricket on Tuesday, has called upon well-wishers to stop worrying about his left elbow.

“I can understand the sentiments of fans across the country, but they should remember that I will have to undergo periodic check-ups... It’s part of the post-surgery exercise... Right now, the elbow is just fine and please don’t worry,” he told The Telegraph.

Sachin made a comeback in the series against Sri Lanka, which ended on Saturday, after missing two limited overs tournaments and the two-Test series in Zimbabwe.

Speaking at the Taj Residency on Monday evening, Sachin explained that he flew to New Delhi immediately after the ODI in Vadodara simply because the London-based Dr Andrew Wallace, who performed the surgery in May, was passing through with his fiancee.

“It’s a coincidence that Dr Wallace happened to be in India at a time when a series had ended... I made that brief trip as he was able to spare some time... In fact, it was nice of him to have seen me despite being on vacation,” Sachin added.

Sachin didn’t do anything exceptional after the first two matches, but his contribution in those ODIs ? 93 (Nagpur) and an unbeaten 67 (Mohali) ? was enough to knock the Lankans for a six. They never recovered and could only win once in seven matches ? when he wasn’t in the XI (Motera).

Perhaps, it’s stating the obvious, but Sachin’s mere presence makes a difference.

Sachin has played 123 Tests (10,134 runs with 34 hundreds at an average of 57.25) and 354 ODIs (13,873 runs with 38 hundreds at an average of 44.46). Clearly, he has had an amazing career since walking out at the National Stadium in Karachi for his first taste of the biggest league.

There’s nobody senior to Sachin on the circuit.