Three is never a crowd

‘‘India have got to contend with the new ball and pace, that is their (Pakistan) strength. You counter it with guys who regularly play the new ball and pace. The best part of being an opening batsmen is that they can play down the order as well,’’ he said.

Speaking on the day, he associated himself to Yahoo’s cricket venture, the man famous for his strong defence during his playing days, checked his stroke after seeing a few raised eyebrows and muted smiles around. ‘‘Have I have set the cat among the pigeons? But that’s my view sitting here in Mumbai miles away from the action in Lahore,’’ he added.

But even taking into account the Mumbai-Lahore distance the Masters’ voice will certainly reach the ears of those who will sit to decide the playing XI for the first Test in the days to come.

Though the out-of-the-box proposition borders on being bizarre at first glance, it’s the repercussion down the order sparks a fresh debate about the highly contentious No.6 spot.

First consider the risk factor that tags along with the three openers theory. If for once, one turns a blind eye to the slug fest of the tour opener there a cloud of uncertainty over the perceived No.1, 2 and 3.

While Sehwag and Gambhir have struggled on not so seaming pitches and against not so fast bowlers in the Sri Lanka series, comeback man Jaffer’s form against top opposition is still suspect. But in case the team management takes the runs scored in the tour game seriously, one comes to the No.6 debate. That would mean drinks duty from Yuvraj Singh and Sourav Ganguly. Besides the old specialist-opener supporter Gavaskar hinted that opening with Ganguly wasn’t a smart choice.

‘‘First he gets selected as a bowling all-rounder and when he comes back, he asked to open. That is for Bhupinder Singh (the national selector in Pakistan) to decide,’’ he said.

Making the whole debate more complex, Gavaskar said that too much is made about the so called green pitches. ‘‘I don’t think a green wicket in our part of the world does too much. Green wickets in Australia or South Africa make a difference because underneath the surface it is very hard. If there is fresh grass there, then it makes a big difference in terms of sideways movement as well as bounce,’’ he said. That then, brings up the basic question: Do we really need three openers for the Lahore Test?