Sachin sounded for captaincy, to reply in 2 days

"Tendulkar has been sounded for the job by the Board. It is now upto him to make up his mind," says a BCCI source.

The Cricket Board of India (BCCI) has sounded out Sachin Tendulkar to take over the captaincy of the Indian team from Rahul Dravid who resigned from the post to concentrate on his batting.

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Feelers have already been sent out to Tendulkar who has sought some time to make up his mind on whether to accept the job for a third stint, a top BCCI source said.

The national selectors will meet in Mumbai on Tuesday to appoint a new captain and choose the team for the home one-day series against Australia.

"Tendulkar has been sounded for the job by the Board. It is now upto him to make up his mind," the source said.

The source said the selectors would think of an alternative only if Tendulkar refused to accept the captaincy.

"We should get his response in the next two days and the question of approaching somebody else will only arise if he declines the job. We can say that he is the front-runner for the post," he said.

While the Mumbai batsman is the favourite for the hot seat, regarded as the toughest job in world cricket, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is tipped to be the vice-captain.

"The idea is to groom Dhoni for captaincy. Tendulkar is the seniormost in the team at the moment and he is the right person to groom him," the source said.

The source also made it clear that former captain Sourav Ganguly was not in the picture at the moment.