That's interesting because this is the first time the selectors have gone beyond their job of jotting down names from their respective zones. They have provided Sachin Tendulkar and Anshuman Gaekwad enough food for thought. Now the team management has a task at hand -- finding a solution to a very serious failing.

One look at world cricket and one can see why it is so important for the lower-order batsmen to contribute to their team's cause. Apart from India, West Indies and England are the ones whose dipping fortunes are linked to their long tails. Often, the opposition bowlers get batsmen numberseven and eight and then wipe off the remainder in no time.

On the other scale are teams like Australia, South Africa and Pakistan, who bat deep enough to support their top order.

If the West Indians were a force in the eighties, it had as much to do with their bowlers (read Andy Roberts, Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding and Joel Garner) as it had to do with their batting skills. Ditto for the Indians, who had people like Kapil Dev and Ravi Shastri being followed by Syed Kirmani, Roger Binny, Madan Lal, Chetan Sharma etc. Some of these players had the ability to win matches with their batting alone.

The question then is: What's gone wrong now? When was the last time the Indian lower-order (tail) wagged?

Almost three years ago. It was in October '96 that Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath won a game against Australia, fittingly on their home turf, Bangalore. If images from that game are still vivid, it is because that effort has not been matched since.

The Indian lower order has Kumble, Srinath andNayan Mongia, no mean batsmen in domestic cricket. They have some decent knocks in Test cricket too, but it is their lack of deliverance in One-dayers which has been the worrying factor.

On his last visit to India, Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi made an interesting remark after the Indian lower order failed to muster 16 runs required to win the Chennai Test: ``After Tendulkar's wicket, we knew we had won the Test. The others were so timid. All it required was two decent hits and they could have won the match. Instead, they simply froze.''

``If Pakistan were to be in a similar position, guys in our dressing room would have said to the next batsman, `Go, finish it off in two balls'. I think the Indian dressing room was too tense to boost the morale of the remaining batsmen.''

It is clear that apart from skill, mental preparation is also useful -- not only the prolonged batting stints at the nets, but words of advice and encourgement from others as well. Roles and expectations have to be clearlydefined and the lower order should be told to contribute or else...

When the selection committee meets the next time, hopefully things should have improved in this direction.

What should be next on their agenda? Why do our bowlers fail to clean up the opposition tail, even after having removed the top-order?