Tendulkar's thrills in front of three men and a dog

As the ball soared into the sky and landed with a thud onto the concrete stands behind long-on, you braced yourself for the explosion of noise that usually accompanies any Mahendra Singh Dhoni big hit. Instead, there was eerie near silence. With only a few reporters and a sprinkling of others in attendance, there was no danger to eardrums from the Indian team's practice match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

You've grown so accustomed to the hype and hoopla that follows these boys around that the idea of them playing in front of the proverbial three men and dog seemed out of the realms of fantasy. They seemed to enjoy it though, especially Dhoni, who smacked 32 from 30 balls before one loft too many against the offspin of Ramesh Powar. The match billed as Rahul [Dravid] XI against [Ajit] Agarkar XI was more a straight contest between bat and ball, though Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh enacted both roles before the 40 overs were completed.

Both sides had been given targets by the team management. The bowlers were asked to choke off the runs, and look to concede less than 35 in 10 overs, whereas the batsmen were to rattle along at 75 runs in the same period. With Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid in fine fettle, that certainly appeared a possibility. Tendulkar's ability to throw from the deep may be a subject of debate, but there's nothing whatsoever inhibiting his shotmaking ability. He drove and cut with élan during a cameo of 26 (24 balls) and it ended only with an outstanding catch on the run from Dinesh Mongia at deep midwicket.

Not to be outdone, Dravid stroked 10 fours before retiring to make way for Yuvraj Singh, and Virender Sehwag thumped 28 in even time before Sreesanth got one to keep low and trap him in front. Yuvraj, whose form in the one-day game was one of the features of India's resurgence last season, crafted an elegant 41, and while he and Dhoni were in the middle, the big shots were never too far away. Yuvraj played one superb sweep off Harbhajan and then spanked one straight down the ground, but an attempt to repeat the stroke ended up at long-on. Harbhajan, having won that little battle of the Punjab, couldn't restrain his laughter.

With Ian Frazer and Greg King umpiring, and Greg Chappell watching from the stands, Suresh Raina and Pathan didn't stay too long, leaving Mohammad Kaif, very much the mid-innings anchor, and Harbhajan to see it through to the close of play. By the time the players retreated to the shade and lunch inside the National Cricket Academy premises, 242 runs had come from 40 overs, much nearer the batsmen's target than the bowlers.

SM Yusuf, who has a special place in Indian cricket history for having no-balled Anil Kumble's medium-pace - prompting the switch to legspin - had scored the game, and was kind enough to provide a scorecard afterwards. Pathan went for 42 from his five overs, and will be glad that he won't have to come up against Tendulkar and Dravid every day, while Dinesh Mongia, who went for 30 from four overs, was reminded that more than a Persian Gulf separates these guys from those who are lions merely in county cricket.

Ultimately though, it was a good outing for everyone, relaxed and with plenty of banter and enough of an edge to make sure that it didn't descend into farce. After lunch and a team meeting, it was back to the hotel and a swim to cool down. Then perhaps, a few might just tune in to watch highlights of Sri Lanka's remarkable win at the SSC, confirmation if any was needed of the sterner tests that lie in wait.