MUMBAI,Oct 24: Sachin Tendulkar played four Ranji matches and one Irani Cup tie last season. That's quite a number when you consider that prior to 2012; his only appearance in the tournament had been in its 2009 edition. 

Tendulkar has had to turn to the less hurly-burly regions of domestic cricket to find a semblance of batting rhythm. Last season, he chose to wear Mumbai's white before the home series against England and Australia. He was part of Mumbai's 40th Ranji title win in January this year - ideally that should have been a fitting end to a domestic career. 

However, his soon approaching farewell Tests against the West Indies have forced him to have another go in the domestic arena. 

Mumbai will soon leave for the quieter plains of Lahli for their first Ranji match against Haryana on Sunday, and Tendulkar has prepared himself as meticulously as he has done for the last 24 years. 

A sharp rising ball from Dhawal Kulkarni knocked Tendulkar on the fingers in the nets yesterday, the most valued commodity in sport until next month. 

After his first round of practice, he had another session of throwdowns with local bowlers just to get the feel and swing of his bat. And then, Kulkarni & Co listened with rapt attention as Tendulkar demonstrated the subtleties of releasing the ball and body alignment while delivering it. 

Wasim Jaffer and Zaheer Khan are Tendulkar's only contemporaries in the Mumbai dressing room. Jaffer spoke about the aching sense of loss that he and Zaheer are bound to feel after the Lahli game. 

"We know it's his last domestic match, but nobody wants to say anything. Apart from Zaheer and I, our team is brimming with youngsters. Even Abhishek (Nayar) is relatively new. Nobody has the courage to talk to him about his retirement. But I'm sure everybody is sad - the whole cricketing world is sad," Jaffer said, adding that the team will organise a get-together sometime during the Lahli game. 

Asked what fans in the post-Tendulkar era will miss, Jaffer added: "The inputs he gives during batting or after practise, I'm sure nobody must have ever heard of them. It's like giving graduation lessons to a student of standard five. They won't have access to great thoughts." 

In the last two weeks, everything that Tendulkar has been doing has been reported minutely. 

Yet he seems unmoved - he has hardly presented a picture of a man moving away from a universe he can't do without. "I think mentally he must have realised that it is time to go. So the burden is off him. That's why he wants to enjoy the 15-16 days of cricket left in him," Jaffer said.