Tendulkar sets the tone as camp winds to a close

There were strong murmurs around the IIT-Chemplast ground at Chennai. The whispers that were doing the rounds had nothing to do with team selection, the series against Australia, matchfixing or any other such topic. Thankfully so. Everyone was so taken aback by the lush green outfield and the perfect practice facilities presented to them. No one more so than John Wright. Putting the boys through their paces in a short but purposeful session, Wright was all praise for the facilities.

As always it was Sachin Tendulkar who led the practice drill. Not by being in front, but by practicing purposefully. Starting with a leisurely stroll around the park, following that up with the frisbee game that has become popular with all teams, Tendulkar was in high spirits. When it was time for a stint in the nets, Tendulkar showed why he is such a class act. After taking his guard Tendulkar got a good stride in down the wicket. Having done so, he marked a spot just outside the leg stump at that length. Uprooting the stump, the little master from Mumbai scraped the top off the pitch in that region till a visible 'rough' spot was created. Now go ahead and bowl at me he seemed to say as he took strike to Sairaj Bahutule and Narendra Hirwani.

Rough or no rough, Tendulkar still had the run of the course, smiting the ball effortlessly over large distances on more than one occasion.

However, unlike the recently concluded Challenger Trophy, it was not a case of batsmen grinding the bowlers into pulp at the nets. The two newcomers to the squad, both leggies, Bahutule and Hirwani impressed with their efforts. Although Hirwani, who hasn't played a Test since the 1996-97 series against South Africa, looked a bit on the podgy side, he was full of beans and bowling magnificently. Giving the ball plenty of air even against a rampaging Tendulkar, Hirwani induced the false shot more than once. Was the Madhya Pradesh tweaker surprised at his comeback? "Not really. That's the reason I keep on playing hard and giving the game my best shot. I always believed that I could make a comeback if I worked hard and left the rest to God."

Wright too was sufficiently pleased with the performance of the two leg spinners, "Both have worked hard at the nets bowling to different batsmen for two hours on the trot," he said, after the net session. The former Kiwi captain added that he was extremely happy with the attitude of the Iqbal Siddiqui and Reetinder Singh Sodhi "'I appreciate them for having decided to work at the nets despite being told to get back home. They are here on their own," said Wright.

All in all, the air at the camp was an extremely convivial one. The icing on the cake was a youthful and enthusiastic Javagal Srinath. On the team bus Srinath stuck his head out of the window and waved frantically at all spectators present. Huge waves greeted the Karnataka speedster and that continued well after the bus left the training grounds!

John Wright said he wasn't going to work any miracles. That may well be true. However, every rupee spent by the Board of Control for Cricket in India looks well worth it.