Tendulkar to decide on Sunday about playing

Uncertainty continue to persist over Sachin Tendulkar leading the Mumbai Indians in their IPL opener against Bangalore Royal Challengers, with the champion batsman insisting he would take a call on the matter only on Sunday.

"We have to wait and see how I feel on Sunday. If I am ready I will play," Tendulkar said on the eve of the match.

Watch: Sachin likely to miss IPL debut

If he was unable to play then vice captain Harbhajan Singh would lead the team and would have his ears open for inputs from two other international captains in the team - Sanath Jayasuriya and Shaun Pollock, the master batsman said.

"Both I and Harbhajan, who would lead the team if I am unable to play, will be open to ideas. That's the way it should be," he said.

Tendulkar said he had already had a talk with his teammates from overseas on the vociferous vocal support they can expect from the Mumbai crowd.

"I have talked to them about the long tradition that Mumbai cricket enjoys when we had 'tika' ceremony the other day. I have told them that it will be an experience they should relish when the Mumbai crowd gets behind them. I told them to enjoy and not get overwhelmed by such support," he said.

Tendulkar was referring to his mentor Ramakant Achrekar applying 'tilak' to all the players with a mixture of Shivaji Park mud mixed with the 'sindoor' from the temples of Mahalaxmi and Siddivinayak and the holy water from Mount Mary Church in Bandra, near his residence.

Tendulkar described the opening ceremony of the tournament held at Bangalore yesterday as "fabulous" and regretted he could not stay back and watch the match between Dravid's team and Sourav Ganguly's Kolkata Knight Riders.

"It was a fabulous inaugural function. The response from the crowd was excellent. Unfortunately I could not stay on and watch the cricket as I had to return here. On the whole it was a fabulous experience," he said.

He, however, said the result of that tie - in which the Bangalore team was whipped by Kolkata by 140 runs - has no bearing tomorrow as it's a new game in a new ground.

"All the venues are different. Bangalore is different from Mumbai, Chennai is and Kolkata too is different from Mumbai. We will have to wait and see how the conditions are tomorrow evening," he said.

Tendulkar said West Indian all rounder Dwayne Bravo is expected to reach here by tomorrow night and will be available till the middle of next month to play for his team.

Rajput said the choice of an opening partner for Jayasuriya, in case Tendulkar could not play, would be decided later.

Squad for Sunday's tie: Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Jayasuriya, Pollock, Robin Uthappa Luke Ronchi, Dominic Thornely, A Nayar, Pinal Shah, Saurabh Tiwary, Musavir Khote, Dhawal Kulkarni, Ajinkya Rahane, Swapnil Singh, Siddharth Chitnis and Vikrant Yeligati.