He spends the entire day at the ground. He bowls at nets, plays with a stump, gives the pitch the once-over. He does everything but bat. It was a distressed Sachin Tendulkar at the MA Chidambaram stadium here on Tuesday.
After days of intense speculation, by late evening, it was almost certain that Tendulkar will not play the second Test against Australia beginning here on Thursday.
By Indian coach John Wright's normally conservative standards, his saying, "It is very, very unlikely that he will play but I am hoping he will get to play a role at some stage of this series" was practically a giveaway.
“When you have a player of Sachin’s ability, if there is a chance of him playing, we would have done so. Tendulkar's presence would be an enormous boost for the Nagpur Test."
The man himself is disturbed. Life can be cruel at times.
He yearns to play. “I want to play but can’t go against the doctor’s advice,” is his off-repeated line. If he does that, he risks ruining his career.