Yashpal may find it nothing but sheer coincidence that No 3 batsmen have failed in this tournament, but Ajit Wadekar, former India coach and captain, feels the jinx has more to do with the mental state of batsmen. “You can call it a jinx, but I will say it’s the confusion in the minds of the players pertaining to their role in the team. If you see, most of the teams have gone about changing their batting order through calls for flexibility, but this gets the player nowhere. It only shows a lack of mental preparedness,” asserts Wadekar.

Looking back, then only Ponting, Jayawardene and Younis have conformed to the popular theory. But what of their failure (Ponting, of course, has another chance against India today)? “Nothing but bad luck, bad shots,” says Wadekar. Meanwhile, the jinx continues.