Hyderabad: The wait got over a little after two. For the few hundreds who had parked themselves on the entrance to the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, a fleeting glimpse was enough to satiate their hunger.

Earphones plugged in, Sachin Tendulkar stepped out of the coach in a Team India practice shirt. A wave of the hand sent the crowd into raptures as he made his way into the dressing room.

The craze to be a witness to the seven runs that complete the 17,000 milestone is growing by the minute. Umpire Asoka de Silva’s dreaded finger may have controversially stopped Sachin in his tracks in Mohali, but for the people here it’s been a blessing in disguise.

The Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) is struggling to meet the demand for tickets. Even as the Indians went through nets, there was a strong protest and slogan shouting outside the stadium alleging foul play by the HCA bosses.

The organisers, though, have already put in place plans to felicitate Sachin once the landmark is achieved.

For Sachin, it was business as usual. A round of football was followed by catch practice. Thereafter an extended session at nets meant he was not taking anything for granted. More than the seven runs, his failure to get a big one in the Hero Honda Cup so far seems to be the driving force.

“There’s so much expectation and responsibility on him for the last 20 years. Whenever he goes in we expect him to score big, but at the same time we want him to bat well,” said Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Not just the Indian openers’ failure to stitch together a big partnership, the middle-order’s collapse against a sub-par Australian attack, that helped the visitors level the series 2-2, has also called for introspection. Not without reason, Gary Kirtsen spent much time at nets after attending to Harbhajan Singh on a strip adjoining the main wicket.

The good news for India is that Gautam Gambhir is fit and will play Thursday. Ashish Nehra is, however, down with “cough”, although Dhoni dismissed it as “nothing serious”. The pacer only limited himself to a few stretching exercises on Wednesday.

Will Munaf Patel play if Nehra is unavailable? “Let’s see… Hope for the best,” was Dhoni’s reply.

The hard wicket here will encourage strokeplay and that should be music to the batsmen’s ears against a diminishing Aussie bowling stock. After losing Peter Siddle Tuesday, they suffered another blow when Moises Henriques was ruled out with a right hamstring injury.

“We have 13 players to choose from… We have to look at what balance will be best suited,” said Tim Nielsen.

The grass on the wicket has also made the Aussie coach hopeful. “A good batting wicket… It has a bit of grass on it too… I expect it will be the sort of wicket on which the team batting second will get an opportunity to chase. The team batting first will be under pressure to get a very good total.”

It’s been a nightmarish tour for Ricky Ponting’s men. Seven first XI players out, followed by two of their replacements. Add to that the cramped itinerary with matches spread across the length and breath of the country and the alien conditions. Most captains would have surrendered, but the Aussies are made of sterner stuff than that.

One of the aspects that set the Aussies apart is their ability to bounce back when the chips are down — Dhoni has been quick to acknowledge this trait in the visitors. “That’s what you expect from the Australian side. They are fighters. They fight till the end with whatever resources they have. I’m not surprised,” said the Team India captain. But as Dhoni suggested, it’s a three-game series from now on.

“When it became 1-1, I said it’s like a five-game series. Now we can say it is a three-game series. Every game is important as we can see… When the number of games get reduced it’s important not to have an off day. There’s no time to recover... Every game, every hour is important for both sides,” said Dhoni.

If only Dhoni and his men show the same intensity and dedication and live up to their words on the field Thursday.

Match starts: 2.30 pm