Australians out to get the little master

CENTURION, South Africa, Feb 13 AAP - Get Sachin.

Indian maestro Sachin Tendulkar will be confronted with the full force of Australia's pace attack when he opens the batting in the World Cup cricket match at SuperSport Park on Saturday.

The man's credentials need no repeating.

He is the little master.

"We haven't played against him for a while but every time we have played against him he's done extremely well, he's played brilliantly," said Australian captain Ricky Ponting.

"We've had lots of plans and different things we've tried against him and none of them have really worked."

Tendulkar has played 304 one-day internationals, scoring 11,598 runs at an average of 43.76 with 33 centuries and 57 half-centuries.

No-one has scored more runs or more centuries and he's made them quickly, boasting a strike rate of 86.31 per 100 balls.

The 29-year-old millionaire from Mumbai lifts his game to even greater heights against Australia, the best side in the world, averaging 49.27.

But Sachin hasn't been Sachin lately.

He has only one half-century from his last nine one-day innings - against Netherlands at the World Cup.

In his last series, he scored just two runs in three innings against New Zealand. For him, this is a slump of astronomical proportions.

"That's probably a bad thing, actually," said Ponting.

"I would have rather him score a lot of runs coming into the game against us.

"He seems to save his best for us. He's done well against us in the past but he's sort of batted different positions the last few tournaments and I don't think they're really settled with where they want him to bat."

Indian captain Sourav Ganguly confirmed Tendulkar would open, setting up a clash of irresistible forces with Australian fast bowlers Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie.

The Australian pacemen will throw everything they have at Tendulkar: short balls, swinging balls, lightning-fast balls, nasty looks and the odd angry word, even though it seems sacrilegious to sledge him.

Tendulkar will attempt to not only survive but dominate. It will be edge-of-your-seat stuff.

"Sachin opening is probably a good thing for them but it's probably a good thing for our team as well," said Ponting, expecting life in the pitch if Australia bowls first at the unusually early starting time of 10am (0800 GMT).

"I think we're probably more of a chance to knock him over at the top of the order than we are later on.

"If we can get him out there nice and early with a nice, hard new ball we'll be a chance to knock him over somewhere behind the wicket, I reckon."

Ponting confirmed Tendulkar remained the opposition player the Australians admired and respected the most.

Asked why Tendulkar was such a special batsman, Ponting replied: "It's his balance, that's the biggest thing that separates him from most other players.

"He's not a huge mover of his feet but at the same time his head doesn't move either, which is a very big thing with batting.

"When batsmen are struggling it's usually because their head is moving around all over the place. His head just stays perfectly still, probably the same as Mark Waugh.

"Obviously, how hard he hits the ball as well. They're the two things that stand out.

"He's just one of those guys who is an exceptional player. His record speaks for itself.

"He's a class player and he's played well against us but on the other side of the coin, we've done quite well against him on occasions as well.

"For us it's a case of us bowling really well early on, building some pressure, getting into their faces and being really aggressive and positive with them."

India's batsmen can rack up 300-plus runs any day of the week, with Virender Sehwag absolutely dynamite on his day, cracking a 69-ball century against New Zealand two years ago. He was the fourth-highest run-scorer in the world last year.

"Just looking at the way he plays, he plays a little like Sachin," said Ponting, heartened by New Zealand's 5-1 series win against India before the World Cup.

"He probably hits it harder than Sachin and further than Sachin but New Zealand sorted him out over there a little bit on some wickets that bounced a bit and with a bit of pace.

"We know that's their biggest weakness, the pace and the bounce, so we'll try to exploit that."

Australian batsman Darren Lehmann said: "All our quicks are raring to go.

"We'll be going out with guns blazing."

After India's opening match against Netherlands, Tendulkar replaced Pakistan's Javed Miandad as the highest run-scorer in World Cup history.

Australia will not give him a solitary single without a fight.

And his wicket won't come easily.