Elbows healed, headaches begin

The mental scars have healed, so have the tennis elbows; soon, though, the headaches will begin. The return to sparkling form today of Sachi...

The mental scars have healed, so have the tennis elbows; soon, though, the headaches will begin. The return to sparkling form today of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly may be bad news for Sri Lanka but it8217;s also given the national selectors a dilemma: How do they shuffle India8217;s batting order to accommodate both?

The problem arises only from the third ODI, because Ganguly is not in the squad for the first two, but it is a matter already being debated both in Bangalore, where Sachin tore apart an Indian bowling attack in a practice match, and at Rajkot, where Ganguly scored a stroke-filled century for East Zone in the Duleep Trophy.

The two innings were on similar lines. Exquisite cover drives, lofted sixes, perfect pulls and the utter disdain for bowlers typical of a batsman who8217;s just recovered his form. Indeed, the way Ganguly went after VRV Singh 8212; who8217;d hit him on the helmet yesterday 8212; was a revelation to those who believe he can8217;t handlle the short stuff.

Tendulkar8217;s knock prompted coach Greg Chappell to say, 8216;8216;He8217;s back on track both mentally and physically and that is great news.8217;8217;

He was unwilling to comment on Ganguly but some of the national selectors, speaking off the record to this paper, said his selection would be almost a formality when they sit at Mohali after the second ODI to pick the team for the next few matches.

So the question remains: How do you play three world-class openers? Simply put, two into three won8217;t go and the betting is that Ganguly will get back his favoured opening slot, which he gave up for Sehwag an avatar ago.

The thinking seems to be that Tendulkar, despite his success today, would prefer a gradual transition to international cricket by batting down the order.

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Indeed, right through the camp in Bangalore Gautam Gambhir was seen preparing for an opening role, implying that he8217;d open with Sehwag and Tendulkar would bat lower down. The left-hander cannot play anywhere else in the order and so if Tendulkar opens, he8217;d have to sit out.

Playing Gambhir would make sense for two reasons: One, it fits in with Chappell8217;s practice of involving everyone in match situations. And two, it would be a straight swap when Ganguly returns.

The middle order would then have some stability, with Suresh Raina and Venugopala Rao fighting for one berth.

There are other twists, of course, and enough possible combinations to give Chappell a shot or two at experimentation. Sehwag, for example, hasn8217;t been in great nick in ODIs, so he could be moved down the order with Ganguly.

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There is, perhaps, a silver lining to Mohammed Kaif8217;s injury 8212; it will allow the newcomers to prove themselves. Chappell said today that the middle-order bat would be fit in two or three weeks8217; time, which is round about when the South Africans get here.

That8217;s when the selectors will feel the headache returning.

ESPN-Star bags telecast rights for Asia Cup

New Delhi: ESPN-Star Sports has bagged the worldwide telecast rights for the 9th Asia Cup to be held in Pakistan in February next year.

The tournament would be contested by India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, UAE and Oman. In all, there would be 13 one-day internationals played between February 16 to 28. ENS