Sachin Tendulkar and 21 others

Eden Gardens deaf to captains plea to focus on Test series,eyes fixed on man playing his 199th.

There were two Sachin Tendulkars present at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday,one on either side of the Dr BC Roy Club House. The one under the awning was made of an artists wax,wore an India Test jersey and held his arms aloft in celebration. The Tendulkar out in open air was made of flesh and blood although the people who call him God will beg to differ and had his helmet and bat pressed close to his body. In the pose that he always strikes at the non-strikers end.

A day before the penultimate Test of his career,the first of this series featuring Tendulkar and 21 other nameless men,both these Sachins received plenty of attention. From media-men,administrators,fans and their collective smartphones lenses. And for a good hour or so,both Tendulkars seemed to be made out of the same wax,making for great still-life images.

With his left wrist curled on his hip and right heel crossed over the rooted left leg,the entire weight of Tendulkars body rested on his bats handle. After having received his fair share of throwdowns in the morning,he assumed this classic leaning posture between the two temporary nets and simply stopped moving. Only the neck swung from side to side to observe the chaotic world around him. A world that turned at breakneck speed just for his benefit.

In front of him,Sudhir Gautam,the man who has redefined the very meaning of star worship,waved his hefty tri-colour. To Tendulkars left,a throng of photographers fell over tripods and heels as they cursed and spat in their attempt to outdo each other in the morning papers. And on his right stood us,a gaggle of media men and women,minutely observing and overtly scrutinising every move of the only man on the field who wasnt moving.

We noticed that he spoke at length to Virat Kohli,birthday boy and perhaps Indias next No.4.

We noticed that he giggled when MS Dhoni shared a joke. Perhaps this was when he pointed out that a hoarding in the ground had spelt Sachin as Sachine. We noticed that Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane were given the most advice from the master. Could he be saying something special to his possible replacements?

The same query was posed an hour later,this time to Dhoni at the pre-match press conference. This is something he has been doing all through his career, a chuckling India captain replied. You are only noticing this now because the focus of these two Test matches is on Sachin. But is this focus,trained through a magnifying glass,burning holes in the teams preparations? So far so good, said Dhoni. We,as players realise that there is a Test series to be played.

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Indeed,there is. Apart from Tendulkar,10 other Indian players will take the field at 9 am on Wednesday morning against the West Indies. While most names on Indias Test teamsheet are set in stone Dhawan,Vijay,Pujara,Tendulkar,Kohli,Dhoni,Ashwin,Ojha,Bhuvneshwar,a few others are not. With the selectors resting Ravindra Jadeja,an all-rounder who has cemented the number seven slot since his debut 11 months ago,either Rohit in sizzling one-day form or Rahane the man who made his debut in Indias last Test match could fill the void,swapping places with Dhoni and moving to number six.

It could also be Amit Mishra, added Dhoni,throwing the leg-spinners hat in the ring. If we go with five bowlers,both Rohit and Rahane may not play. Youll have to wait and watch.

Few cared to wait. By the time West Indies skipper Darren Sammy arrived,the scene at Eden went back to looking like the eve of a regular Test match. The administrators had vanished,the fans were now in the Indian team hotel and the journalists had begun pressing out copies on their laptops. Whats all the fuss about? Sammy must have thought. Then he arrived for the presser.

Eighteen questions were posed to Sammy. Eleven were about Tendulkar. One was about the importance of his wicket in the West Indies dressing room. It takes 20 wickets to win a Test match. All of them are equally important, said Sammy. It doesnt matter if we take nine. Because the tenth can score a century. I cant remember his name oh yes,Ashwin,in Mumbai two years back. Do you remember that?

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We do. It was the match where Tendulkar could have scored his hundredth hundred. Sammy had him caught for 94 but Ashwins 103 ensured that India got close 482 to West Indies first innings 590. Then the Caribbean side collapsed,bowled out for 134 in the second innings and the match ended in a draw,with the scores tied and India nine down.

In order to be better prepared this time around,Sammy wasted no time after the conference and geared up to bat long before the rest of his team had even arrived. At being summoned to bowl with no one else but the West Indies captain around,the net bowlers wore a confused look. Why is there only one player in their team? asked one boy to another,while dusting off his trousers. Pat came this reply: Who cares? In any case,there is only one man playing this Test match.

Man-to-man marking: 22 in commentary box

If everything goes to plan,the first Test between India and West Indies that starts at Eden Gardens tomorrow will see a new world record. A 22-member English and Hindi commentary panel has been planned. Apart from those commentators already contracted with Star,the host broadcaster,some very interesting new faces will be seen.

We have invited Steve Waugh,Brian Lara,Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh and all of them would be commentating for the first time. They will be here as guest commentators and are expected to arrive tomorrow morning. Only Lara said hed be coming on Day Three, said a source. He also said this would be a world record in terms of the number of commentators for a Test match.

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