Once again the Australians lead the way in demonstrating that nobody is indispensable and past records or reputation have nothing to do with the honour to do nthe baggy green. Take the case of Michael Clarke. He was touted as their most exciting find of recent years and did exceedingly well on debut, he was even being hailed as the person to take over Ponting’s mantle, but when he failed and had his head in a mess, they dropped him and sent him back to domestic cricket to figure it out. Now he is back and is doing really well.

I think the Indian team should think of something as bold as dropping Sehwag for Pathan and sending in Pathan to open. I think Pathan will do well. He has the confidence of a century on the tour under his belt and he has opened before and done well. Plus we get an additional bowler! I think it is a no-brainer. And I’d love to hear opinions on this.

Regarding fair-play and excessive appealing etc. We should go back to what Jonathan suggested a few posts ago and implement more technology to aid the umpires. It shouldn’t be that an umpire has to make a split second decision and decide the course of the game without some external aid. Look at the case of Strauss being given out when there was daylight between bat and ball. That decision could cost England dearly. What is the harm in looking at a replay and then making the decision?? This is where I break with the traditionalists and think that the game would benefit greatly from an electronic eye.