It is a philosophy that appears to animate the Indian cricket team, now undergoing a preparatory camp at the M A Chidambaram Stadium in Madras before the four-nation Singer Cup tournament in Sri Lanka slated to begin on August 24.

Thus, when it rained on Friday, both manager Sandeep Pa- til and captain Sachin Tendulkar saw in the interruption a blessing in disguise. ``We sat down, while it rained outside, and brainstormed,'' Patil said. ``And everyone came up with very valuable suggestions.''

The interruption occured midway through the morning practise session, while the squad was concentrating on physical conditioning. The rain-spurred discussion over and done with, the players took up where they had left off, with nary a murmur when Patil extended the morning ses- sion to make up for lost time.

In the interval between the morning and afternoon sessions, skipper Sachin Tendulkar took time off to share his views on the prospects for the upcoming tournament, in which India will face World Cup winners Sri Lanka and finalists Australia, besides Zimbabwe.

``No side is invincible,'' said an obviously upbeat Tendulkar, when reminded of the strength of the opposi- tion his team would be facing. ``We would definitely like to win.''

Reminded that it was against the Lankans that India came aground in the semifinal of the World Cup, Tendulkar was quick with the reply: ``You forget that we beat Sri Lanka in Singapore, when we faced them after the World Cup. My point is precisely that, no team has been winning always, nor can it expect to.''

Least confidence be mistaken for complacence, India's captain the youngest, in fact, to ever lead the nation in a one-day international - added, ``In one day cricket, nothing can be taken for granted, nothing can be predicted. Don't think it's going to be easy, for it is not. We cannot afford to relax for a minute against Lanka.''

Sachin believes that the side he leads, with an average age of 26 and with Azhar, at 33, the oldest member, could well be the nucleus of the side of the future. ``It is a young outfit, and this is going to help a lot. If we stay together as a team for a reasonable period of time, the results will be positive.''

While Sachin, perhaps for obvious reasons, did not want to make any comments whatsoever about the recent debacle in England, he did disagree with the perception that the bowling was not good enough to bowl a Test side out twice. ``A couple of crucial umpiring decisions went the wrong way, and made all the difference. Not,'' he added quickly, ``that I am blaming the umpires - everybody makes mistakes. I am merely pointing out that there is always more than one reason for success, or failure.''

Given his amazingly young age, it will be Sachin's larger brief to mould Indian cricket for the future. And it is a responsibility he faces with confidence. ``There is plen- ty of talent at the grassroots level,'' Sachin felt. ``I did not get to play much domestic cricket last season, but in the Liberty Cup competition in Hyderabad, I saw at least 10, 15 youngsters with good potential. The talent is there, and it can be moulded through competition,'' said Tendulkar.

And then he led his 'boys' out again, this time for a session in the nets. And perhaps to indicate that even genius can only improve with practise, the master bats- man took a long session in the nets, thought about his performance, then promptly asked for and got another go-round with the bat.

Bowling to Tendulkar, ironically enough, were three Sri Lankan boys currently training with the MRF Pace Founda- tion in Madras - N Soyza, S De Silva and W Labrooy, part of a contingent of 12 trainees honing their skills under fast bowling great Dennis Lillee and former India Test star T A Shekhar. ``The boys have been bowling to us from the first day,'' manager Sandeep Patil said. ``Considering that we are practising to play against their country, it is a great gesture on their part. Not everyone would do this.''

As for the boys, their motivation was obvious - it is something to be able to say that they bowled to Sachin Tendulkar, even if only in the nets.

And who knows, one of them could well be the Lankan pace spearhead by the time the next World Cup comes around - ask Chaminda Vaas and Ravindra Pushpakumara, Pace Foundation alumni both...