Announcing the end of the Azharuddin era and the beginning of Tendulkar's reign, chairman of the national selectors G R Vishwanath told Rediff On The NeT, ``It was felt that Azharuddin's per- formance as captain was not up to the mark in the last couple of tours, so we opted for a change. And Sachin, who has been India's vice captain for two seasons now, was the obvious choice to succeed Azhar.''

The selection committee has, however, nominated Tendulkar only for the forthcoming Singer Cup quadrangular one-day competition in Sri Lanka, and for the Sahara Cup one-day series against Pakistan in September.

Is the short duration of his appointment an indication that Tendulkar is on trial?

``No, nothing like that. In September, the BCCI is scheduled to appoint a new national selection committee, we felt that it would not be fair to appoint Tendulkar for a longer period as it would amount to pre-empting the job of the next selection committee,'' Vishwanath, speaking on the telephone from his room at the Taj Bengal in Calcutta, said.

Vishwanath made it clear that the decision to depose Azharud- din as India's captain had nothing to do with the Navjot Singh Sidhu controversy. ``The BCCI had indicated to us, before our meeting, that as per the enquiry committee report on the Sidhu controversy, Azhar was not at fault,'' Vishwanath said. ``Actually, Azhar's captaincy was under some cloud beginning with the Wills World Cup, but it was felt that dropping him on the basis of one series was unfair.

``Therefore he was given a further chance, in Singapore for the Pepsi Cup and Sharjah for the Singer Trophy. Though India lost at both the venues, he was retained for the England tour, the thinking being that a longer tour involving county matches, oneday internationals and Tests would help Azhar find his feet again. That did not happen, so we selected a new captain.''

Vishwanath, however, refused to pinpoint the specific defeciencies in Azhar's captaincy, remarking merely that ``We discussed the matter at the selection committee meeting today (Friday) and felt that the time had come for a change.''

Would the captaincy not come as a burden to Tendulkar, at a time when he bids to cement his reputation as the best batsman in international cricket. ``Again, this was discussed by the selection commit- tee,'' said Vishwanath. ``And it was felt that Sachin was ready for the job. He has captained Bombay with distinction for two seasons now, as vice-captain of India he has led the team when Azhar was off the field, and besides, he is one of those motivated players who needs a challenge to bring out the best in him,'' the chairman of selectors said.

'Challenge' is a word that Sachin himself uses. That, and 'ambition'.

``I have ambition,'' Sachin Tendulkar had said last year. ``Fierce ambition - but I always keep it to myself. My aim is to max- imise my potential, to finish my playing career with the satisfaction of knowing that I have done all that I possibly could do.''

And he has made no secret of the fact that his ultimate ambition was to lead the national side. ``I will welcome the captaincy, it will be a proud moment when I lead the side out,'' Tendulkar commented when, earlier this year, the subject of his succession had come up for the first time following India's defeat by Sri Lanka in the sem- ifinal of the Wills World Cup. ``But I am no hurry, it will come to me in good time.''

The good time, it would appear, is now. And Tendulkar, immediately after taking over, has the awesome task of not only rebuild- ing the morale shattered by defeats in the Test and one-day series in England, but also proving himself as both batsman and leader against world champions Sri Lanka in Colombo later this month, and against arch rivals Pakistan in Canada in mid- September.

``India has a good team,'' said Vishwanath who will, on Saturday, chair the meeting that will pick the side for Sri Lanka and Canada. ``It needs a good leader, and we are confident that Sachin will do the job the country expects of him.''

In favour of India's captain elect, there's this - he has always exceeded expectations in the past. Even judged against the yardstick of precocious talent, Sachin's track record is extraordinary - at the age of 14, he was averaging 1,034 runs in school cricket, having played five innings and run up a scoring sequence that read 125, 207 not out, 346 not out and 329 not out the last mentioned score, as skipper of his school team, also resulting in a world-record unbeaten first wicket stand of 664 with his childhood friend Vinod Kambli.

Debuting for Bombay in domestic cricket a year later, during the 1988-1989 season, Sachin began with an unbeaten 100 against Gujarat in his debut, then followed up with centuries on debut in both the Irani and Duleep trophies - the only batsman in Indian cricket his- tory to hit centuries on maiden appearance in the three top domestic com- petitions.

Less than a year later, Sachin was underlining that promise with 119 against England. And the world, for its part, was hailing a superstar.

In the interim period, there has been no occasion to change that assessment. At age 23, Sachin Tendulkar has already compiled 2,911 runs in 41 Tests (60 innings) at an average of 54.92. HIs ten Test centuries mean that he has hit a ton in every fourth Test. And in one- day internationals, Tendulkar's blazing strokeplay has thus far yielded eight hundreds and 26 fifties, with an average of 40-plus from 118 internationals.

The ultimate accoldae came earlier this year, when no less than Sri Donald George Bradman in a rare television interview said that of all contemporary batsmen, Tendulkar alone approached his own style of batting.

'Sachin will make a brilliant captain,'' said former Test all-rounder Manoj Prabhakar, on receiving the news of his appointment. ``As vice captain, he has already led the side when needed. But his real test begins now.''

Asked whether the added burden would affect Tendulkar's batting, Prabhakar said that on the contrary, ``This will boost his confidence and he will perform better than before, both as batsman and as skipper.''

``I had expected this to happen,'' said Test star and Sachin's Bombay colleague Sanjay Manjrekar. ``Azhar did a tremendous job dur- ing his tenure. It would not have been right from the team's point of view, and from any other point of view, to have burdened him with the captaincy any more. With Sachin taking over as captain, it will ease the pressure on Azhar, and it will also infuse the team with fresh ener- gy.''

``I am very happy,'' said Sachin's mentor and coach from his Shardashram days Ramakant Achrekar.

The ace coach, winner of the Dronacharya award conferred by the Federal government, was at Bombay's Shivaji Park, where Sachin him- self had learnt his cricketing ABCs, when he got the news. ``When I first saw him play, I knew that this boy would one day captain the national team. I am sure that the Indian team will definitely improve under Sachin.''

Asked whether the added burden would reflect adversely on Sachin's batting, Achrekar said, ``On the contrary, I don't think his batting will be in any way affected.''

``The only danger,'' said BCCI vice president Raj Singh Dungar- pur who had, only last weekend, chaired the enquiry committee probing the Navjot Sidhu controversy, ``is that the pressure should not be allowed to build on him. Even when Sachin was just 15, I could see his maturity, I think he will prove to be a very good captain for India.''

The captain elect, meanwhile, is scheduled to fly to Calcutta early Saturday morning, in order to be present when the national selectors pick the side for the twin tours of Sri Lanka and Canada.

And the most ticklish question facing Tendulkar - and the selection committee - is the Azharuddin factor. ``The fact that we have dropped him as captain does not mean that he will not be considered for the team,'' Vishwanath clarified. ``When the commit- tee meets on Sa- turday, every player's credentials will be con- sidered, and Azhar is no exception. He could still make the side as a batsman.''

Asked about the future of Navjot Singh Sidhu, Vishwanath said that the selection committee would be briefed by the BCCI on the is- sue, before the selection meeting. ``It is up to the board to decide whether or not Sidhu should be considered - if we get the all clear, we will definitely consider him.''

And what of Sachin's old schoolmate Vinod Kambli? ``Again, we are waiting for word from the board,'' said Vishwanath. ``We had been instructed not to consider Kambli for Sharjah, Singapore and England, whether or not he is considered now will again depend on the board.''

With inputs from Syed Firdaus Ashraf and Savera Someshwar