ROTATION THEORY

At first glance, India8217;s calendar looks like the best they could have asked for. There are Test series outside the subcontinent up for winning; and there are ODI triangulars with weak third sides.

Chappell might like to look at the season in three phases: relatively easy series in Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe till October, home series against Sri Lanka and South Africa in the winter, and then a home series against England sandwiched between tours to Pakistan and West Indies which should ideally be the top priority.

It looks a perfect start for a side that was last seen beaten, tired, and looking for inspiration but the season grows in the degree of difficulty and the toughest engagements are at the end.

Building and maintaining both rhythm and intensity before November, when Sri Lanka come to India, will be a big challenge. The first trimester looks deceptively innocuous, but is one that goes in fits and starts. Too much will depend on one match in the first two assignments.

Still, this being just the start of the season, and with ODI tournament crowns on the line, major load shedding is not expected before the Tests against Zimbabwe, who are struggling to win against Bangladesh. There might be a case for resting some of the players who take part in the Super Series in October in Australia. Sachin Tendulkar8217;s injury and Sourav Ganguly8217;s ban would have been the perfect opportunity to include new faces.

The cricketing skills camp started accordingly but India retaining much the same side for Sri Lanka shows the bench is still more empty than filled 8212; something which haunted India last year.

A thin bench makes it all the more important to preserve bodies that have shown signs of fragility to last the gruelling schedule. Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Lakshmipathy Balaji and Ashish Nehra have all shown brittleness and having at least three of them available at every moment of the year to come will be a task for the much-hyped support staff Greg Chappell has brought in. Add to it Tendulkar8217;s increased propensity to get injured, and Rahul Dravid8217;s workload, and there emerges a system that can break down, all at the same time.

Rotation, something Australia does to boast of their superiority, will have to be India8217;s bail document. If Sachin Tendulkar comes back for the Zimbabwe tour, he should not replace a newcomer. Rahul Dravid has to be rested at some time before the third phase starts.

Anil Kumble can be saved the grinds of one-dayers. Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, and Mohammed Kaif also are not youngsters anymore. Breaks will have to be arranged for them too, once Ganguly also is fit and feasible to play. More so for Sehwag, because he plays both Tests and one-dayers.

Kumble admits that rotation is an option but adds that it should be left to the individual. 8216;8216;Each individual understands his body best and knows what work load he can take. It8217;s an option but can8217;t be enforced8217;8217;, he says.

There is also a corollary to this, he believes. 8216;8216;Suppose a player misses out on two series and comes back and doesn8217;t do very well. The verdict will be that he hasn8217;t had much cricket.8217;8217;

The selectors have shown positive signs by looking at players with high endurance. For example, chairman of selectors Kiran More is fed with statistics of how many balls a bowler bowls in the nets, in practice matches, and in competitive ones.

So, team analyst S Ramakrishnan8217;s laptop will keep the selectors updated with who might need a rest at what time. Chappell has done his homework well and is preparing for injuries and loss of form to certain players. Holding the fast bowler8217;s camp before the main camps was the prime reason for that: to identify the back up in case the first-choice bowling machinery breaks down.

It also explains the reason why there are five pace bowlers in the side to Sri Lanka and only two spinners. A member of the team explains: 8216;8216;We can only name who the number one pace bowler is: Zaheer Khan. You can8217;t rate the next three pacers. But if you ask the top two spinners in the country, it is clearly Kumble and Harbhajan.8217;8217;

At some point, Chappell will have to ask himself if the nucleus of this side will make it to the World Cup, which seems approaching faster every day, but looks far enough for bodies that are slowing down. Chappell will not be shy of making tough decisions but seems to be tied down by lack of replacements.

And if this remains the case, wise rotation is the only solution in sight.

Reported by Faisal Shariff and Sidharth Monga