PADDING UP AGAIN: Tendulkar had a batting stint at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday. — Photo: Vivek Bendre

Mumbai: Sachin Tendulkar's presence at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday morning for nearly three and a half hours turned out to be a remarkable event. The moment he stepped out of the Vijay Manjrekar home dressing rooms, 400 hopefuls waiting for the under-22 selection trials rose to greet the champion batsman and MCA officials led him towards the net pitched on the East side of the ground.

Former Test cricketers Umesh Kulkarni, Lalchand Rajput, Pravin Amre, Abey Kuruvilla and first class cricketers Milind Rege and Pradeep Sundaram, a long list of Mumbai Ranji Trophy probables and coach Karsan Ghavri did their best to make the batting maestro feel comfortable. Budding players at the adjacent Mahindra stadium raced to the top of the North stand tier, dropping their hockey sticks, just to have a glimpse of the cricketing icon.

Working his way

Since last summer, Tendulkar has been earnestly preparing for a comeback into international cricket.

Heeding to expert advice, he decided to get his left elbow repaired by a surgeon in England in May and after taking the opinion from sports medicine expert Dr. Anant Joshi, he has spent hours at the gymnasium to strengthen the forearm of the affected part of his left hand.

He had obtained the Australian visa and completed all formalities to compete in the ICC Johnnie Walker Super Series, but ultimately wiser counsel prevailed and he avoided taking the trip Down Under.

As suggested by Dr. Joshi he has decided to play in the Challenger Trophy in order to ascertain how the repaired left elbow would react. He has made several visits to the MIG Club, but on Tuesday he travelled to the Wankhede in his BMW, to engage in cricket related activities with fellow Mumbai cricketers, to get a feel of the dressing room and the ground and of course, to have a net session.

A damp pitch

Sharp showers on Monday had rendered the ground and the practice pitch slightly damp that saw him take a 20-minute batting session. He faced Ajit Agarkar, Avishkar Salvi, Usman Malvi, Rajesh Verma and Swapnil Hazare, bowling at military medium speed and mixing it up, pitching short, three-quarter length, and full tosses.

Left-arm Nilesh Kulkarni was the only spinner who bowled at him. Tendulkar was content in playing forward and backfoot defensive shots. He straight drove once and on another occasion danced down the pitch.

For almost two hours thereafter, Tendulkar kept himself busy by monitoring the under-22 boys trials. "Tendulkar is fantastic. He's always done this, giving his valuable time and motivating the players," said Milind Rege.

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