Naturally, one would expect the Indian camp to be thrilled with its batting riches. Instead, its worries centre around its master batsman Sachin Tendulkar. Former Indian cricketers of note, Ravi Shastri, Dilip Vengsarkar, England's Mark Nicholas, Derek Pringle and Pakistan's Imran Khan believe the maestro must bat at the top of the order where he would get a full 50 overs. They contend he needs no hiding from any attack and the move to send him down the order is essentially a defensive one.

But is it? Tendulkar himself stated that he is happy to bat in any position. ``If the team believes I am best suited lower in the order, it is fine with me,'' he said. And with opener Sadagoppan Ramesh being a relative success with over 115 runs in four matches theIndian batting machine must be mean as ever.

However, everything is not as it seems. There is more to Tendulkar coming down the order than is being let out. It is believed that Tendulkar after the long lay-off from the game owing to back injury, is not in his best touch. The superb knock against Kenya had more than a tinge of vulnerability that is not always associated with Tendulkar.

This apart, the way the England medium-pacers tied him down showed that he was some way from being the devastating batsman he was pre-back injury. Certainly he is not batting with the fluency that destroyed Shane Warne's confidence.

SACHIN AS A PROP: Another line of thinking is that both Dravid and Ganguly have been batting with a great deal of freedom and conviction secure in the knowledge that if they goof up Tendulkar would be around to clean up the mess. The belief is they would not be as confident or fluent if they were batting after his dismissal. Indeed, the team is psychologically so dependent on the masterbatsman that his dismissal early on (as opener) could set them back considerably. The rest of the batsmen would fall just to the pressure!

It is this perspective that has brought in Sadagoppan Ramesh as opener. He has done a decent job if the scores are any indication. However, his inclusion has edged out all-rounder Robin Singh who has had a fairly good tournament thus far. He batted the side nearly to victory against Zimbabwe and then picked up five wickets against Sri Lanka. Yet, he has no place in the squad. Already the deployment of Tendulkar at number four has brought Dravid and Ganguly to perform closer to their potential. Maybe, another spark of inspiration could ignite a couple of others.

Best would be Tendulkar himself striking form. If he bats with the assurance of the old, he could still do for India in this World Cup what Aravinda de Silva did in the 1996 edition. Geniuses, after all, are blessed with the gift of timing.

Sachin likely to open against Aussies

LONDON: SachinTendulkar looks set to return as opener when India take on Australia in their crucial opening Super Six World Cup tie at The Oval on Friday. The team management feels Tendulkar had dominated as opener against the Aussies and it would be a positive ploy in a tie it must win to keep on course for a semi-final berth. The star batsman himself is reportedly in favour of batting at the top of the from where he can dictate terms to the formidable attack led by Glenn McGrath.