Tendulkar, apparently, is also still nursing a hairline fracture on the little finger of his left hand -- a setback suffered on the New Zealand tour -- to add to India's tension before the second Test scheduled to begin at the Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium on Thursday. The consoling factor is the 25-year-old is known to shrug off such setbacks without a second thought in his eagerness to get out there and give it a shot.

The other nugget from the Indian camp is that VVS Laxman and Sadagopan Ramesh remain on top of the Indian batting order. Though the final XI, as always, lies with theselectors who arrive here tomorrow, Gaekwad seemed sure that, ``there is no re-thinking on openers.''

The coach also beamed across a positive signal for left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi when the Harbhajan Singh option was mentioned. ``Joshi did bowl well,'' he said.

Looking back on Chennai, the Indian coach felt that it was a ``hairline gap'' that drew the line between victory and defeat. ``The difference is only marginal in terms of performance. We have to play that much better. That is the only way.''

Admitting that Pakistan's bowling made all the difference, Gaekwad added, ``it was very close. It could've been anybody's game.'' The team, he said, would have been under real pressure going into the Delhi Test if the margin of defeat had been greater.

Putting aside the second Test against India from their minds for a while, the Pakistan cricket team is expected to be present in full strength at the National Stadium here to cheer their hockey stars during the first India-Pakistan hockey `Test' tomorrowafternoon.

Today, the cricket team, which reached the Capital around midnight from Chennai, had `nets' at the centre pitch of the Harbaksh Stadium ground and all top-order batsmen had lengthy sessions in the middle. Understandably, Wasim Akram's men were in a cheerful mood after the pulsating 12-run victory in the first Test at Chennai two days earlier.

Barring Akram who opted to take rest, all the other members went through a strenuous three-and-a-half hour practice session. Despite the tight security around the stadium, the players looked at ease and pounced at the opportunity to have `nets' without any disturbance. Even mediapersons and photographers were not allowed entry into the stadium.

Later in the evening, the team attended a `tea' hosted by President KR Narayanan at Rashtrapati Bhawan.

The Pakistanis will have another session of `nets' at the same venue tomorrow morning before deciding on the final 12. Team coach Javed Miandad and Akram are expected to visit the Kotla tomorrow to assess thepitch and ground conditions.