Mumbai Indians’s coach Lalchand Rajput was all set to give his mandatory post-net Sachin Tendulkar medical update when he was stopped in his tracks. He went into a huddle with commentator and team advisor Harsha Bhogle. After a few whispers were exchanged, Rajput shook his head, showing that he had understood the last-minute instructions.

An ultra-cautious Rajput then started by saying: “I think Tendulkar had a net session today.”

It was certainly a slip of the tongue since the batsman-on-mend was the focus of all attention — including Rajput’s, who was conducting the session — right through the afternoon. The huddle and the ‘I think’ slip made it evident how the Mumbai Indians management is tip-toeing about the fitness of their skipper, who has missed the last five games due to a groin strain.

Stand-in skipper Shaun Pollock, at the end of the last game in Kolkata, had said: “Sachin could be fit in time for the next game.” But Rajput added a layer of ambiguity when he said: “Tendulkar looked very good (at the nets). There are still two days to go before the next match. We will take a final call on the morning of the match. He had a long bat, looked all right. Hopefully he gets better in that time.” With the usual rituals associated with Tendulkar’s previous injuries being relived, suspense was the vital ingredient of this drama.

Caution on mind

Caution was also on the mind of Tendulkar at the nets. He spent more than half an hour batting against an assortment of pacers and spinners. But, most of the time, he kept himself away from the frontline bowlers, batting against bowling coach Subrato Banerjee, Dwayne Bravo and a few spinners.

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