Memo to Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar is the best batsman in the world but it does not make him immune to the odd technical mistake. Four ways he could become even better:

Use a lighter bat on fast surfaces
Bats have got heavier over time; earlier it used to be the preserve of the big fellas like Gooch, Botham or Lloyd. Tendulkar is a superb timer of the ball, but I assume he uses a heavier bat to generate pace through the outfield on slower wickets. However, he could consider using a lighter bat on the faster, bouncier pitches in South Africa and Australia, where the ball speeds off the bat. With a lighter bat, he would be able to employ the horizontal bat shots - the cut and the pull - with greater felicity without hindering the rest of his game. There's another theory about customising the bat to suit different conditions, which I think was first thought up by Dean Jones, that entails adjusting the sweet spot on bat - push it down in the subcontinent where the ball keeps lower, and push it up for bouncy pitches.

Don't play the one-day game in Tests
Sachin's style is fairly uniform across both formats of the game but he should take the initial risk out of his play when building a Test innings. The pull, the cut and the drive on the up are all shots he loves but he needs to be careful with them early on because field placements in Tests are different from those in one-dayers: the crowded slip cordon checks the glide down to third man while mid-off, mid-on and cover are all much closer, so an uppish drive is likely to carry to them. The upper-cut he played over slips in that masterful 155 at Bloemfontein was a stroke of the one-day age and very effective too, but it's something he should not attempt early on. I'd like him to think along the lines of moving from nought to 10 without taking a single risk, taking fresh guard again at 10, and then again at 20. Once he gets to 30, the bowlers will start worrying.

Get forward to the inswinger
The inswinger is a delivery that has caused him more problems than any other and it's because he tends to get caught on the crease. In India not much happens off the pitch and he can take a short step forward and play through the line. But in conditions that help seam and swing bowling, he needs to be more decisive and to get forward far more to counter the movement. That way, even if the ball does hit pad, nine times out of 10 it would strike him outside the line of off stump. Or, he'd be far enough forward to create a doubt in the umpire's mind. He also plays the whip through square leg more than before. It's a safe shot so long as you pick the right angles - a Ntini or a Klusener bowling from wide on the crease are made for it, but it's different against a Pollock or a Kallis. He should look to play them towards wide mid-on rather than square leg.

Leave the ball more on bouncier pitches
Sachin doesn't like to let too many alone but he should be leaving a lot more balls on bouncier pitches, particularly those which are unpredictable. One of the important things to do on a hard pitch is to get the eyes in line with the ball on contact. That means no fiddling outside the off stump. Sometimes he needs to lower his sights in terms of domination - that's not to say he shouldn't be positive; it's just that he might have to defend for a little longer.