Tags
Gary Kirsten, India, Magnetic resonance imaging, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Mumbai, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh
Sachin Tendulkar impishly walked in while M.S. Dhoni and Virat Kohli freed their arms and threatened the upper-tiers of the Chinnaswamy Stadium with massive hits.
Tendulkar gripped the bat and the child in him took centre-stage as he turned around and batted left-handed. He clubbed baseball-style shots and with a neat swivel struck two 6s and one past the ropes while the overawed local net bowlers wheeled away and an amused Yuvraj Singh burst into laughter.
That Tendulkar, who is playing his sixth World Cup, still nurses an infectious enthusiasm is a lesson that will hopefully permeate through the rest of the team as the Indian squad handles the pressure of being one of the leading favourites.
“Gary Kirsten throws a million balls at me,” Tendulkar had said a few months ago and that fact got repeated again while the maestro toyed with the throw-downs. There was no sign of discomfort as Tendulkar moved his feet and played with assurance while the scare of him undergoing an MRI scan on his left knee at Mumbai recently, was quickly forgotten.