RELIVING A PAINFUL MEMORY...Indian skipper Sachin Tendulkar in a pensive mood as he answers a question on the Carribean tour during the media conference at the Wankhede Stadium.

MUMBAI, May 16: The Indians may have had a miserable series against South Africa and West Indies abroad, but skipper Sachin Tendulkar prefers to put those setbacks in the archives. He believes in looking forward positively than reflect on the negative bygones. His team has begun the Independence Cup campaign well with a victory in the opener against New Zealand and he wants to sustain that positivity going into the crucial second game against world champions Sri Lanka.

``We would like to look at the positive aspects of our game rather than thinking about the past. The team is in a confident mood after the win at Bangalore and we would be going all out tomorrow for a win,'' was Tendulkar's forceful reply, when reminded about Lanka's victories in crucial matches against the Indians -- be it the 1979 and 1997 World Cups or the Singer Cup tourneys.

``We wouldn't like to leave it to the third game,'' he said adding, ``we are hoping to keep our record at home intact by playing to the best of our abilities.''

Despite the air of confidence that he exuded during the hour-long press briefing, he wasn't willing to underestimate the opposition too. ``I don't like to underestimate the Lankans, or for that matter any team. For, it requires just three good hours for any team on a day to win a match,'' he said.

The change in the Lankan strategy of substituting Roshan Mahanama with Romesh Kaluwitharana in the opening slot was not lost on the 23-year-old Indian captain, when he revealed: ``Roshan Mahanama is the kind of player who hangs there till the end while the other guys go for the runs. We aren't going to take any chances and would be on our toes to counter it.''

Elaborating on his team's strengths and weaknesses, Tendulkar was of the opinion that the top six players in the batting line-up -- he himself, Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Vinod Kambli, Ajay Jadeja and Robin Singh -- are the ones who should try and pull the side out while chasing a big score. ``Even Sunil Joshi has the ability as he is in the side as a all-rounder and the others too have the potential to thwart the opposition as witnessed during the ninth-wicket stand at Bangalore between Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath (against Australia in the Titan Cup). If the latter order batsmen keep that partnership in mind I don't see any reason why we can't win chasing big totals,'' he emphasised.

On the lack of a specialist fifth bowler, Tendulkar said that Robin Singh has been performing admirably in that role. Pointing out the Tamil Nadu all-rounder's bowling displays in the Titan Cup and the last encounter against the Kiwis, he said, ``Robin has been doing a good job so we are not in urgent need for a specialist. Besides, Saurav and Jadeja are also there, depending upon the situation.''

The reserves in the squad -- Doddanarsiah Ganesh, Gagan Khoda and Noel David -- too have a chance in this tournament, if the Indian coach Madan Lal is to be believed. ``If any member in the eleven doesn't perform well, the reserves have every chance to get into the side,'' disclosed the former Test all-rounder.

Though Tendulkar stated that India ``dominated 25 days in the Test series in the West Indies'' while reflecting on the team's tour to the Caribbean Isles recently, the inability to deliver the knock-out punch remains unanswered.

Saturday, at the Wankhede Stadium against a fired-up Lankans, might provide the answer.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.