Sense of deja vu for Tendulkar

That’s not just another comment. Tendulkar isspeaking from his heart as another win here, this time against the Kiwi Black Caps, will give him and the Indian team the kind of spur they need in what could be one of the toughest season in international cricket for them. Also, Tendulkar needs to reaffirm the faith shown in him by the selectors. The Indians had their chances in the Mohali Test last week but the Kiwis managed to thwart that bid. “We bowled 140 overs (Mohali Test’s second innings) and could not get the side out… Disappointments are not a part of my kit bag. We are looking at the positive aspects of that game. We came back strongly after the first day’s play. We will try our best here,” Tendulkar feels.

Indian coach Kapil Dev, too, wants to look ahead. “Mohali is over. We are now in Kanpur and our effort will be to get a result.”

Tendulkar would be happy to note Karnataka’s shock win over the tourists in the Bangalore three-dayer. Importantly, the win was orchestrated by two of his main spinners Anil Kumble and Sunil Joshi. “I amsure they (bowlers) can repeat their performance here,” Tendulkar feels.

Both the skipper and coach felt that the wicket will assist spinners later on but would be good to bat on initially. “It looks good, but will definitely take turn. We have to see the bounce and turn before jumping to any conclusions. But, I would like to make it very clear that the wicket should not play in our team’s mind. We are here to win and we have to do that at any cost,” Kapil says. With the wicket expected to take turn, India might be tempted to add another specialist spinner, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh to the playing eleven. Even though Kapil considers the Karnataka all-rounder Vijay Bharadwaj as a “genuine bowler, who can bowl 20 overs a day and run through a side”, India did feel Harbhajan’s absence at Mohali and would be wise in not repeating the same mistake.