Amsterdam Diary: Tendulkar Hopes to Be Fit for England Series

Javed Akhtar, Arab News

Sachin Tendulkar, the master Indian batsman, is likely to be fit for the three-match Natwest Challenge one-day series against England starting on Sept. 1. He is out of the Videocon Cup here with a tennis elbow. He was at the VRA cricket ground as the team warmed up for the match against Australia yesterday. He stood by team physio Andrew Leipus as I spoke to him and asked Leipus about the injury. He first shrugged his shoulders and looked heavenward as if to say only God knows but then said: “We are giving him physiotherapy. This is something which is internal and it is difficult to say how long it will take to heal but hopefully he will be fit for the England series.” Tendulkar also has a slight touch of the flu and said he found it difficult to stretch the left arm or even his left leg. However, he assisted coach John Wright in giving catching practice to the slip fielders. Rains Cause of Worry The rains which badly affected the opening match of the Videocon Cup between India and Pakistan on Saturday, caused the second match to be abandoned yesterday after it was reduced to 32 overs a side. In the morning, the Australian and Indian teams were at the ground warming up and continued going through their paces despite a slight drizzle. Holland’s captain for the 2003 World Cup and now an official, Roland Lefebvre made an interesting remark about the local weather. “If you don’t like the Dutch weather at the moment, just wait for five minutes and it will be fine,” he said. One hopes he is right. The day dawned gray and despite waiting for several five minutes, it has only changed for the worse. The rain intensified forcing the players indoors. Play finally began at 3 p.m. after two inspections by umpires. In the last over of the day, Irfan Pathan had bowled only four balls when it started pouring and the players rushed to the pavilion. The rains intensified thereafter and the umpires had no option but announce the abandonment of the match. Stars of Yesteryears Among TV commentators there are some top stars of yesteryears among the satellite TV commentators here. South Africa’s top batsman Barry Richards with his silvery gray hair is prominent among them. He feels that this type of tournament is good for the game. “The three leading teams in the world are taking part in this tournament. It will help in promoting the game in this part of the world,” Richards told me as he stood with Indian coach John Wright discussing the day’s weather. Former Indian captain and allrounder Kapil Dev is here as an expert commentator. So are Rameez Raja, Sanjay Manjrekar, Michael Slater and Arun Lal, all former players. And Navjot Sidhu, a new member of Parliament and former Indian opener, is also here. He made a name for himself with some of his bizarre but humorous television comments dubbed as ‘Sidhuisms’. “How are you sir,” said Siddhu as he shook hands with me and was polite enough to remark that ‘of course I remember you”. Sidhu and Kapil met and shared a few jokes as they signed autographs and posed for photographs. Also here is India’s former dashing wicketkeeper and opening batsman Farokh Engineer. He is doing commentary for an English radio station. Dressed in a pink T-shirt, a lot heavier but looking debonair as ever “Rookie” said he would love to do commentary for one of the TV stations. “But nobody is asking me to do commentary for them,” he told me.