Tendulkar practiced for two hours

Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar practiced for about two hours in the morning on Tuesday giving boost to hopes that he may be fit on time for the third Test against Australia starting at Nagpur on October 26.

Tendulkar, who missed the first two Tests due to an elbow injury, came to the MIG ground in sub-urban Bandra near his residence at about 0600 IST and had some batting practice.

Though the ace batsman declined to comment anything, sources close to him said, "He is doing quite well."

Tendulkar was yesterday named in the 15-member squad for the third Test and Cricket Board Secretary S K Nair said Tendulkar could make it to the side for the Nagpur match as he was well on the road to recovery.

Captain Sourav Ganguly was also optimistic about Tendulkar's chances of taking the field in the Nagpur match.

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Other sources said the ace batsman, thirty runs shy of completing 9500 Test runs, bowled a bit and also indulged in some fielding drills at the MIG Club ground which is situated very close to where he grew up as a young boy.

The master batsman is launching his new business venture, a sports cafe -- Sachin's -- at suburban Mulund in north Mumbai, on Tuesday.

He is a partner in a classy restaurant -- Tendulkar's -- which is situated a stone's throw away from Mumbai's famous landmark, Gateway of India.