Tendulkar, on the other hand, is a different story. He clearly still has it in him to play for 2-3 years at the highest level, but something needs to change in his mind to enable him to think domination and not survival. And dropping him for one test could do either very strongly, so it could be a double edged sword. But anyway, it is unthinkable in Indian Cricket right now, so let us not even discuss this.

Sehwag, in any case, deserves a longer rope, simply because he is an opener, something Tendulkar has never has the stomach to do in test matches, let alone in conditions like these.

This basically means that Ganguly and Irfan Pathan fight it out for the 6^th batsman’s slot, and you decide who deserves to get in. Irfan is pretty much going to sit out, that much is confirmed.

On the issue of cricket being a gentleman’s game, it would be so much more meaningful if this were remembered when the same subcontinental sides that crib when such run-out decisions (lawfully) go against them, think of all the excessive appealing they do. Or rather, appealing to mislead the umpire. That is a far more regular occurrence in world cricket – why is that never spoken against? (West Indies is perhaps the only side that is not guilty of this – such is the tradition of the game there.) In the subcontinent, excessive and deceitful appealing is justified by the oft-repeated comment that “there is much more competition for places in the subcontinent, therefore any means is resorted to”. This is complete drivel, and it exemplifies the double standards in cricket today. Instead of cribbing about getting dismissed because they happen to be ignorant about the rules, it would be so much better if they extend their self-righteousness to not appealing when they know for sure it’s not out. Then, “spirit of the game” could actually be upheld much more tangibly and regularly.

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