Tendulkar plays big brother to younger team-mates

Everyone knows what Sachin Tendulkar does with his bat to bowlers and records. Very few know how much help he offers to his team-mates and their cricket.

Any number of his young team-mates on this tour are spending a lot of time with the best batsman in the world and putting that advice into practice, often profitably.

Shiv Sunder Das got over his opening blues with a century against CFX Academy on Saturday. He gratefully acknowledged the technical advice that Tendulkar had shared with him during the net sessions.

"He told me a few things with my foot movement and body position in the nets," said the little opener from Orissa. "I put it into practice in the middle and had immediate results."

Time and again Tendulkar had taken Das aside in the nets and given him practice against rising deliveries. Das had landed in a no-man's land on a few occasions against bouncers aimed at his body by Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie during the recent tour by the Australians.

It had been saving Das injuries but not his wicket. Tendulkar then advised him how to drop his bat and not instinctively raise it in front of his eyes. Also, he told him how he could deflect these bouncers away behind square for some runs.

Das' partner Sadagopan Ramesh is another case in point. Ramesh has this tendency to reach for the balls. On these bouncy wickets, it is the surest way to doom.

"In this innings (of 42) against CFX, I was committing this mistake in the first hour. Sachin offered a fairly valuable piece of advice. He told me how I should look to play shots off my pads and also those cuts behind square. I had a far better stay thereafter."

Vice-captain Rahul Dravid says he seeks out Tendulkar whenever he feels the latter could be of help. "I check him out on little things, when I feel he could offer a valuable piece of advice".

The openers alone are not singing Tendulkar's praises. Wicketkeeper and state-mate Sameer Dighe is also full of praise for the maestro.

"He is always there when you need him. I remember the Chennai Test, my debut game. When I went into bat in the second innings, Tendulkar asked me to wear an elbow guard. Usually I never go for it. But I was so lucky I heeded his advice. When I went in, we needed some 40-odd runs for victory. As we inched closer, Gillespie started throwing bouncers. One such delivery hit my elbow guard and went to fine leg for two runs. The way that Test went, those two runs were absolutely critical. What is more I could have injured myself and been ejected out from the middle," Dighe recalls.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh is a die-hard Tendulkar fan too. "Anyone who plays this game, I think, is a fan of this little master". The 'Turbanator', who tore apart the mighty Aussies in the recent series, acknowledges he learnt how to bowl with the new ball from Tendulkar.

"I also seek him out to test myself in the nets, as often as I can. I want to test myself and do my best when bowling to him. It is a great confidence booster if I do well against him," said Harbhajan.

Yesterday morning, before the start of the second day's play against the CFX Academy, Tendulkar sought out Ramesh, VVS Laxman and Hemang Badani for catching practice in the slips.

He decided to make it interesting by giving grades to the catches the three picked: A for the best and B and C for the next best efforts.

After a few hits, Ramesh indicated Tendulkar was hitting spliced catches too hard at him. But Tendukar would have nothing of it as he smashed the next ball with a full swish of the bat and the ball rocketed behind the slips and thudded into the sight sreen.

Ramesh raised his hands in mock surrender and later admitted it was tough but "valuable practice."

Any discussion on the matter and Tendulkar shrugs his shoulders in his characteristic manner and is close to being embarrassed. "I only try to do what I observe, the little things that I notice," the champ says modestly.