Will Sachin play? Coach Wright joins the ‘very unlikely’ chorus

Speaking to mediapersons after practice here at the Chepauk today, team coach John Wright said that Tendulkar would in all probability miss the second Test. ‘‘Very unlikely to play,’’ he said, sounding resigned. ‘‘(Physio Andrew) Leipus is giving his best and working on Sachin’s fitness and we’ve been taking it one day at a time.’’

Wright added that he was hopeful about Tendulkar getting into action at some future point in the series. He also confirmed that the team wants to be in a position to field him at any stage that Leipus and Tendulkar feel the batsman is ready. ‘‘When you have a player of that ability, your best player, you want him available at all times,’’ Wright said. ‘‘In any case, he’s not a bad person to have around the changing rooms.’’

There is no official confirmation from the team management as yet on how long Tendulkar will be missing from action. They probably want to keep the Tendulkar injury a closely guarded secret in the hope that the Australians could be kept guessing about the batting maestro. There was a hint that he might opt for a lighter bat to resist the injury again.

Of all the current Indian batsmen, Tendulkar has the best record at the Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk having scored 714 runs with four hundreds in six Tests at an average of 102. Even in the two matches he did not score a century, Tendulkar had two unbeaten innings (against New Zealand and West Indies).