Tendulkar ruled out

Sachin Tendulkar: missing out on cricket because of a tennis elbow © Getty Images

Sachin Tendulkar has been ruled out of the first Test between India and Australia at Bangalore, beginning on Wednesday. Sourav Ganguly confirmed this in his pre-match press conference, where he also said that the pitch was "very, very dry with a lot of cracks" and added that he had never seen a pitch like this in Bangalore before.

Tendulkar's omission was on the cards after he preferred not to have a bat at the nets and instead concentrated on bowling for about an hour to his team-mates. Ganguly confessed that in these conditions, the team would miss Tendulkar's bowling ability as well. Tendulkar's crucial wickets at Kolkata, in the 2001 series, as well as the dismissals of Damien Martyn and Steve Waugh at Adelaide, would surely have been on Ganguly's mind.

Ganguly spoke about how intense the rivalry between Australia and India has been and said: "Except for the Mumbai Test, the last six Tests that we have played have lasted for all five days. It will be a hard-fought series but I hope it's not as competitive as the last two because it'll become really tough for both sides."

Sunil Gavaskar, who was recently appointed as a consultant for the Indian side, oversaw the team's practice for nearly an hour. Ganguly spoke about how the team had sought the assistance of Bruce Reid in the recent past, as a bowling coach, and said that Gavaskar would help out John Wright when required. Gavaskar added that Tendulkar's injury may not be entirely due to the weight of the bat. "You tend to grip the bat harder when you play a long innings and are more prone to such injuries. I've experienced similar situations myself."

Tendulkar¹s absence clears one issue for the Indian team. Barring drastic measures, it is now almost certain that Aakash Chopra, whose stolid resistance laid the foundation for many huge Indian totals in Australia, will open with Virender Sehwag, and Yuvraj Singh, who scored an electrifying century against Pakistan at Lahore, will bat at No. 6. VVS Laxman, who the Australians fear even more than Tendulkar, is likely to take the No. 4 position.