Outside the stadium at the practice nets, Sachin Tendulkar seemed adamant to master the paddle sweep on the eve of the crucial India-South Africa game at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur. For nearly an hour, Tendulkar concentrated on the shot that right-handed batsmen employ to negate the stifling accuracy of the left-arm slow bowlers. He wasn’t finished just yet, for Tendulkar went on to spend some time next to the central wicket, with strategically placed fielders around, to get match stimulus as he tried to squeeze the ball to the left of the wicket-keeper.
Tendulkar’s anxiety was expected since South African skipper Graeme Smith, as was the case in their last game against England, is expected to throw the new ball to left-arm spinner Robin Peterson. And the Indian opener has got out to these slow orthodoxes in the last two games — minnows Ireland and more recently Holland.
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