You know it’s hunting season when Kumble’s head is on the block

Sourav Ganguly has already announced his retirement at the end of this Australia series, and has promptly celebrated his announcement with a batting average of 67.33 in the first two Tests, including a century in Mohali. So at least that’s one age-old, non-performing problem out of the way.

With the re-emergence from obscurity of Amit Mishra, the ‘anti-senior’ group has now decided to focus its attention on Anil Kumble. Strange, because less than a year ago, at the Delhi Test against Pakistan, I’d been witness to a prolonged argument between some of my illustrious colleagues about who had been a greater match-winner for India — Kumble or Kapil Dev. At the peak of his powers then, Kumble’s supporters had been relentlessly pushing for him against a strong, nostalgic onslaught from those in the Kapil corner. The debate had ended in a tie.

Kumble, it must be accepted, has not been near his best for the last five Test matches. But with the focus so firmly on Ganguly at the start of the series, who would’ve thought that things would come to such a pass that the pressure on him to emulate Ganguly would reach a crescendo by the end of the second Test?

And while Ganguly was at least given the liberty of playing four Tests, it’s being demanded that Kumble throw in the towel immediately to make way for Mishra. After all, the 25-year-old has an exciting traditional leggie’s action, he gives the ball flight, and the Australians were totally at sea against his googly in the first innings, and only marginally more in control against it in the second. Given Kumble’s form, the whole scenario is getting very tricky for him.

But the argument being conducted by the media and the fans is not about who will be better suited for the Delhi Test. Strangely, the crux has become that Kumble should quit because he is over the hill — which hasn’t yet been established — and because his successor has arrived — which is too premature.

The long list of players who have withered away after dream starts to their careers — including national selector Narendra Hirwani, who started with 16 wickets in his first Test — means nothing to the senior-baiters. They see a shining light, and they can’t help gravitating towards it.

And if Kumble, being the skipper till the end of the series, becomes difficult to eliminate instantly, there is always VVS Laxman — two short of 100 Tests but forever a soft target. The 33-year-old, who still hurts from being dropped for the 2003 World Cup, had to sit out two years ago when Greg Chappell and Rahul Dravid suddenly wanted to play five bowlers, and now when the Mishra problem is making the five-bowler theory popular again, the drop-Laxman solution has become an easy escape route.

It’s unlikely that the new selectors will go for any of these suggestions just yet. The seniors, by all accounts, will remain united at Kotla next week. But the Mishra story, a positive development that has been turned into a controversy, may continue to haunt the series, especially if things start going wrong for India.

And if Kumble and Laxman manage to succeed in the next Test, going by the media’s constant flip-flop, the heat could easily be on one of the other seniors by the time the Australians leave. It may be Dravid’s turn to face the music because some youngster scores in the Challengers in Cuttack. Or even Tendulkar’s, who was being hailed just last week as the greatest batsman alive.