It was a strange experience watching Tendulkar bat today, on the second day of the 1st test against Australia in Melbourne. He didn't play amazingly as he played in his prime; he didn't play shuffle-poke-prod cricket as he has in his recent past; what he did was back his skills as they exist today and take the attack to the opposition. More than the 65 odd runs he made, it was the way he made them that made an ex-Tendulkar fan glad.

He started out extra aggressively, swishing at and missing a couple of deliveries outside off which might so easily have taken a nick. He got in a couple of good looking drives on the off, swatted the spinner Hogg over mid-wicket to show us that the guy was completely rubbish, and then tonked him over long on for six just to underline the earlier made point. He looked hungry to be on strike and when he was, he looked hungry to add to his score in whatever way possible. When he got out, he had taken India from a position of concern to a position, where not on top, gave a platform for others to build on. That the others failed cannot take away from Tendulkar's effort and to those who think he left the job in the middle, maybe he did, but if he bats like this on the rest of this tour, he will get the job done sooner or later.

Tendulkar has played in different shades at different times and always he has attributed his changed batting style, reviled by many including this author, to be what the team required of him. I never could understand why the team would want someone to bat in the timid, lifeless manner he was doing but either the man is not talking the truth or indeed the team management had taken leave of its senses.

So today, it was a strange but welcome sight to see him stride to the wicket confidently and play like he wanted to dominate the bowling. His end score was 65 odd and not the 241 he made in Sydney (which still makes me go 'yecchhhh') and India are still on the back foot at the end of the second day, but they can take heart from this performance of Tendulkar's. To win against Australia, you need batsmen who can dominate and if a "defensive-for-last-few-years" Tendulkar decides to shift camps to the "gonna-dominate" camp, and then it can only augur well for India.

It would also be interesting to know why the change in mindset, even if it is only for curiosity purposes. Did the new team management give new orders, or did Tendulkar decide that on his last tour to Australia, he was going to show the world champions what he was capable of? Is there an element of ego / pride in this change and if so, then the thing about the "role in the team" was just so much bull.

Anyways, to win this test, - and there is no way they are going to be able to draw it - the entire team has to do a Tendulkar, right from the openers to the tail. Scoring will take you close to victory; blocking will take up time and instead of losing on the 3rd day, India will lose on the 4th day. Big deal!