Tendulkar was met by a man who had jumped the pavilion fence to provide an escort off the ground upon his dismissal.

The unnamed man accompanied the world's premier batsman from the playing area completely unchallenged, clapping him enthusiastically before placing his arm around Tendulkar's shoulder.

Although the invader, an MCC member's guest and thought to be of the Melbourne Cricket Club, was reprimanded immediately for his prank, it left the Indians with a sour taste.

"We feel that this sort of thing cannot take place - it is unacceptable," said team spokesman Ranga Reddy.

"Somebody should have intercepted this man and taken him away, something a lot more serious could have happened.

"Maybe he was drunk and wanted to pay homage to the greatest batsman in the world, but what if it had been someone else and he had been assaulted with a knife?

"Naturally Sachin feels bitter about the incident."

Reddy also revealed that, as the most celebrated player on a cricket-mad continent, Tendulkar is already a potential target for troublemakers.

"Our biggest worry about this incident is that Sachin is the man with the highest profile in India and is on the hit list of the terrorists and we've already asked the ECB for better protection.

"We will be asking them again about that because it was very worrying."