KOLKATA: Injuries appear to have landed Sachin Tendulkar on a sticky wicket, especially on the insurance front. Did you know Sachin’s inability to play the first four matches of IPL due to a pre-existing injury robs him of a $7.8-million personal accident & death benefit cover.

Worse, it also denies him a $1-million mediclaim insurance, along with another undisclosed cover for luggage loss and theft. In fact, the ‘little champion’ will remain uncovered until his doctor declares him fit. Sachin’s covers were offered by Oriental Insurance and UK’s Longreach purely for IPL matches.

In insurance lingo, a pre-existing injury refers to injuries suffered before the cover was sold. In Sachin’s case, the covers become effective only once the doctors declare him fit to play the IPL matches.

“Mukesh Ambani’s Mumbai Indians bought the cover for Sachin, but it will come into force only when Sachin is declared fit by his doctor. Sachin had sustained a groin injury prior to commencement of the IPL. Hence his covers will not be applicable until he starts playing. He can play only when declared fit,” OIC deputy-general manager R Malhotra told ET.

“We had a clause inserted in the covers after discussions with IPL authorities that if a player fails to play any match due to pre-existing injuries, his covers will not work until and unless the player is declared fit. However, we learn that Sachin may be able to play his next match and his cover will come into vogue then,” the official added.

In case you forgot, the master blaster suffered a groin injury during India’s first test against South Africa in late-March. The first IPL fixture was held on April 18, by when his injury hadn’t healed. Since it was sustained before IPL kicked off, the insurers are treating it as a pre-existing injury.

Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com