Ever since Navjot Sidhu woke up with a stiff neck that March '94 morning in New Zealand, India's fortunes in ODIs have been linked with Tendulkar and his explosive batting at the top of the order. At the same time, Tendulkar has not been able to put the bowling to sword when playing away from the sub-continent. He has been steady, but never flashy on bowler-friendly pitches.

In the present English conditions, with the ball expected to seam and move around, exposing Tendulkar early, risks a possible middle-order collapse. Barring Tendulkar, the other opener Saurav Ganguly and the number three Rahul Dravid, the Indian batting line-up lacks technically correct batsmen. Opening with Tendulkarwould mean an out-of-form skipper Mohammed Azharuddin at number four with Ajay Jadeja and Robin Singh following him. None of the three are comfortable with the moving ball, as their past performance in similar conditions suggests. Now, losing two early wickets -- and God save the team if one of them happens to be Tendulkar -- would mean half the battle lost.

In such a scenario, it would make more sense to push Tendulkar down to number four, with Azharuddin, Jadeja and Robin too, moving a slot down. Not only would it give Tendulkar a chance to have a good look at the bowlers and the conditions before going in to bat, it would also allow the other three to bat when the ball would be relatively older and not many fielders lurking in catching positions.

Rather than risk S Ramesh and Amay Khurasia in the opener's slot, Nayan Mongia would be a better choice. Not only does he have the ability to see off the new ball with his technique and patience, but his presence at the top would also mean that the Indiansdon't have to compromise on the bowling front.

This World Cup may not see many blazing starts and the Indians would be best served if they save early wickets and pick up runs playing intelligently, rather than going in with an extravagant approach.

The cautious approach could be the key to India's chances this time too. For, that would give Ganguly and Dravid a chance to be their normal self, milking the bowling and taking the heavy workload off Tendulkar as well. Besides, Jadeja and Robin can be dangerous towards the latter part of the innings and if the two can stick around till the closing stages, the Indians can be sure of a late flourish.

For a change, Indian batsmen are under more pressure than the bowlers. They don't have to gamble, they just need to rethink their strategies, as Gaekwad has been maintaining all this while. Using everybody to potential, and not sticking to copy book, would hold them in good stead this English summer.