“Aat ye..tikde changla aahe” (Finish and then we will go in. That’s better). That’s Sachin Tendulkar in his native Marathi, speaking to the only other Mumbai boy in the squad—Rohit Sharma, who promptly walks out of the outdoor nets and heads straight to the indoor nets. What followed next was a closed-door session of Tendulkar and Rohit one-on-one. This was no isolated case. There had been a few other little sessions. And that has been the biggest story on this tour—the little master and his six young pupils. Most on this tour began their cricket lessons at a time when Tendulkar was making his international debut. He had seen the wholesale changes three times in his career so far. First as a youngster, he played in the company of the likes of Dilip Vengsarkar, Kris Srikkanth, Navjot Sidhu, Ravi Shastri and Sanjay Manjrekar, then with Mohammad Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid and now, finally, with this young team. Tendulkar recognises the huge responsibility he has with this young side as Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Manoj Tiwary, Robin Uthappa, Rohit Sharma and Dinesh Kaarthick strive to form the new nucleus of Team India in time for the next World Cup. That’s what skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni wants and that’s what the selectors are looking up to. And, Tendulkar is happy to help the young lot and slip in as a perfect mentor. Though nobody has been talking about it in the open, there’s no denying the fact.There’s a great sense of respect for ‘Sachin paaji’ in this touring side. Tendulkar says “he’s always accessible to all the players in the team. Anybody in the team can come up to me and say if I am doing something wrong. In fact, I tell them not to wait till I do that mistake, tell me the moment they feel something is going wrong.” Sachin practises what he preaches. So Tendulkar has been speaking to Gambhir, Uthappa, Tiwary, Rohit and others personally from time to time on their respective roles in the team, teaching them how to programme their game and mind in the interests of the team and match situations. He’s helping them out with all vital tips about their technique and how to adjust to the surface in Australia, working with them with the bowling machine and throws down to work on the specifics. Today, apart from Rohit, Tendulkar bowled to Uthappa in a match-simulation mode; “ab thirdman aage hai,” he says and bowls. “Well done, good shot,” he applauds after Uthappa squeezes a shot into one of the vacant areas. The beauty of the entire process of Tendulkar’s mentorship is that he mingles with them— in a friendly, relaxed and enjoyable manner without trying to prove to anyone —by trying to compete with the younger lot on every count, from fielding to fitness. Coach in-charge on this tour, Lalchand Rajput, also acknowledges Tendulkar’s role as a senior player and mentor. “Experience of Sachin is vital. He’s been sharing valuable tips with the youngsters and telling them about his experience of playing under these conditions,” he says. Sixteen thousand ODI runs and over 11,000 runs in the longer version with 39 Test centuries. Tendulkar’s service to Indian cricket has been unmatched, but his contribution in setting up the new brigade will be even greater and remain highly acknowledged.
