Star batsman Sachin Tendulkar returned to Mumbai late last night from the United States where he had his ring finger operated upon on April 29.

Tendulkar had gone to the United States on April 26 for the surgery and stayed there for five weeks. According to Amrit Mathur, media manager of the Indian cricket team, the injury was bothering Tendulkar for a long time, even before the World Cup.

That was the reason why he skipped the triangular TVS Cup tournament in Bangladesh.

Tendulkar's his wife Anjali, daughter Sara and son Arjun accompanied him to America.

Dror Paley, the orthopedic surgeon at Sinai Hospital, Baltimore, who carried out the surgery on the master blaster, said Sachin no longer was experiencing pain in his left hand. Paley said he had suffered a torn ligament and tendon that affected the finger joint.

Although Tendulkar played with the sore finger in the World Cup in South Africa, he was named man-of-the-tournament after scoring 673 runs in India's run to the final.

Tendulkar will need to continue physio-therapy for a few months to restore strength to the finger.

Paley said his patient has not played any cricket since the operation, "but he's already played golf". He said Tendulkar told him he aimed to get back on the cricket circuit in October.

Photo: Deepak Salvi