Sachin Tendulkar kept his cool under the sweltering Mumbai sun and patiently answered the media's queries after a light practice session at the Wankhede stadium on Friday.
The master batsman will return to competitive cricket during the Challenger Series, in Mohali, after sitting it out for more than five months due to a persistent tennis elbow.
"I am looking forward to the tournament," Tendulkar said. "It has been a very tough time for me, being out of the game. But the recovery has been progressing according to plan in the last 45 days."
"I don't think there is any pressure on me coming back after the lay-off. I have been playing cricket for 16 years, so there is no pressure as such. I am only anxious to live up to my own expectations."
The batting ace has been practicing with his Mumbai Ranji Trophy mates for the last few days. He was also named captain of the West Zone side for the Duleep Trophy, but may miss the opening game against South Zone since it clashes with the Indian team's three-day camp in preparation for the ODI series against Sri Lanka.
"It's great coming back to domestic cricket. I have missed the last couple of seasons with the Mumbai team because of my international commitments. But this is an ideal platform to test my elbow."
Tendulkar has been named in the India Seniors' team for the Challenger Trophy, which was to be captained by Sourav Ganguly, who was ruled out due to an elbow injury, after undergoing a fitness test in Mumbai on Friday under the supervision of team physio John Gloster and the Board of Control for Cricket in India's sports injury specialist, Dr Anant Joshi.
The 32-year-old Tendulkar said he hasn't spoken with Ganguly about the injury and is not sure whether it is similar to his.
He asserted that there is no problem between Ganguly and coach Greg Chappell.
"The coach and captain are together. It's just that they have different views; when you have a team of 15-16 players there will be differences in opinion. The coach and captain are trying to achieve success in their own different ways; what we need to do is find a path towards success that all of us can follow."
To prevent any further misunderstanding, Tendulkar suggested that the team has a media manager.
"We definitely need a media manager. The person can understand the language of the players and the media and can give information properly, so there is no confusion or the players are not misquoted."
Tendulkar also said he misses not being a part of the World XI team in the ICC Super Series, which lost the first ODI to Australia, on Wednesday.
"I had to skip it due to unavoidable reasons, but I am catching up on the action."
- Complete coverage: Indian Cricket's Mahayuddh
