After a well-deserved break of two months, Sachin Tendulkar seems mighty serious about his business as the master blaster began his preparation for the upcoming home series against New Zealand at the National Cricket Academy here.
Tendulkar, who arrived at the NCA on Wednesday afternoon, started his session facing the net bowlers and pacer Zaheer Khan, who is undergoing a rehabilitation programme for the last few weeks.After taking on the bowlers for nearly an hour, Tendulkar, who last played in the Indian Premier League in May, seemed satisfied with his batting. Later, he faced throw-downs from NCA training assistant Raghavendra for another hour. The maestro, who was assisted by NCA batting coach Dinesh Nanavati, is likely to continue his stint for another four days.Tendulkar, who opted out of India’s short tour of Sri Lanka, is now all set to return to action when India hosts New Zealand for a two-Test series. The first match begins in Hyderabad next Thursday.Bangalore will host the second Test, beginning on August 31, while the two Twenty20 matches will be played Visakhapatnam (September 8) and Chennai (September 11).After the day’s session, when reminded that he completed 22 years since his maiden ton as of Tuesday, Tendulkar said: “Yeah, that was way back in 1990. Coincidence what else can I say… wonderful memories.”The 39-year-old, now a Member of Parliament, scored his first international ton (119 in the second innings) at Old Trafford on August 14 in the drawn Test against England.