Beware England ! Write of Sachin and you are in trouble : Dravid

London, July 19 (UNI) Encouraged by senior pro Sachin Tendulkar's recent form, skipper Rahul Dravid warned that England should write off the 'Master Blaster' at their peril.

''You write off Sachin at your peril on any day,'' he cautioned Michael Vaughan and Co ahead of the first Test starting at Lords today.

Defending his teammate, he asserted ''I am realistic enough to know that if you play 17-and-a-half years of cricket it is virtually impossible to stay at the same level all the time.'' The skipper added ''There are going to be dips in form; if you look at the history of the game everyone goes through periods when you have peaks and then hit troughs when you need to fight back.

''Sachin is the same as anyone else but the standards he has set are so high he is expected to maintain those all the time - that is not possible.'' Warning that Tendulkar was in prime touch, he said ''He has looked really good.'' The Team India captain has also warned Vaughan and Co of a runglut from his star-studded Magnificent Seven including VVS Laxman and Sourav Ganguly to put England's inexperienced bowling attack to the sword.

''I think Laxman is ready to have a big tour and he seems very happy.

''I am just one part of the batting unit that consists of seven batsmen,'' he was quoted as saying by 'The Mirror'.

Although Tendulkar managed only 83 runs in the series between the countries last year in India, which was drawn 1-1, Dravid says, ''I see no reason why he can't come back and have a good series. He loves playing cricket, you get to see that in him.

Lauding the 'little Genius' he goes on to add ''Great athletes like Sachin want to prove to themselves that they can still perform.'' After being criticised for the World Cup debacle, Tendulkar has hit back by hitting two hundreds in his two previous Test outings, albeit against Bangladesh, and began his last Tour of England with a supreme 171 against England Lions at Chelmsford.

About the leading century-scorer (37) in Tests, he said ''The way he works, the way he practises shows me he is enjoying the game.'' ''It is just about being able to play at that level consistently.

''I guess it is just sheer joy at being able to express your talent against the best in the world, in front of so many people.

Pinning his hopes on Tendulkar, he said ''No-one is fireproof but there should be no concerns about Sachin.

''He is in good enough form for us to not have any concerns at this stage." However, Tendulkar, 34, has spent two years battling tennis elbow and a shoulder injury which required surgery, encouraging many to question whether his great powers were on the wane.

The run-machine needs just six more runs to overtake Steve Waugh as the third highest leading run-scorer in the longer version of the game behind Brial Lara and Allan Border.

UNI