Sachin keeping fingers crossed

Sachin said it was too early to state if he would be fit ahead of the Nagpur Test although he had begun practising with a lighter bat.

Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday said it was too early to state whether he would be fully fit ahead of the third cricket Test against Australia beginning next week, although he had started practising with a lighter bat.

HT Image

"I have started using the lighter bat but it is too soon to say when I will be back," said the star batsman who practised for an hour this morning at the MIG Club here.

"I am taking it step by step but I have to take the final step. I am feeling much better but the doctor has said that this injury is such that it will take time to heal," Tendulkar said at the launch of Sport Cafe 'Sachin's' at Mulund in North Mumbai.

When asked whether he would be involved in the day to day running of the restaurant, he said "right now the focus is on cricket and the most important thing for me now is to get fit and I don't involve myself in the day to day running of my hotels".

When asked why he chose to open the cafe at Mulund, Tendulkar said, "I like Mulund and I wanted to give the comman man a bite when they come for shopping as the cafe is situated at a shopping mall here".

The cafe also has a lot of memorablias for his fans like caps, T-shirts, autographed bats and other articles that a cricket lover would like to collect.