• The naming of Bilawal, the late Benazir Bhutto’s son, as the chairman of the Pakistan

People’s Party is as much an exercise in veiled sycophancy as it is an attempt at sustaining dynastic rule in Pakistan politics. When Benazir assumed the party leadership after her father’s execution, she had by then learnt the ropes and was a suave politician. That she could command such a hysterical following even after eight years of exile was a tribute to her abilities.

Her teenage son — still a student, yet to learn the ABC of politics in Pakistan — finds himself willed as the inheritor of the Bhutto legacy by default. The current sympathy wave might help the party to sweep the ensuing polls and Bhutto junior could well be the heir apparent, but his ability to carry the nation through this tumultuous period is in grave doubt. Neither is his father, Asif Zardari, a politician of proven mettle that he can advise the son on the craft of politics or run the party de facto. A coterie of self-serving power brokers around Bilawal appears to be a sure possibility.

— Pachu Menon

Margao, Goa

• Where as she could not run her party democratically and now has named her son and husband as successors, how could anyone call Benazir Bhutto a great democrat? Her death is definitely tragic but let us not become too emotional and articulate compliments she does not deserve, given moreover that her two stints in government were mired in lengthy corruption charges.

— Mohd. Salahuddin

Mumbai

Pak democracy

• Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is right. Democracy is the best revenge against authoritarianism. The challenge after Benazir Bhutto’s assassination is to make sure elections are held credibly in Pakistan and power transferred to a democratically elected government. The international community should offer Pakistan all assistance it can at this juncture.

— Anita Singh

Delhi

Middle order mess

•The Indian team was totally outplayed in the first Test against Australia in Melbourne. India got out cheaply in both innings. The strategy was totally wrong. Kumble knows it very well that Dravid is the best player for the No. 3 position. He should not have been asked to open. Sehwag is the other option for opening. And, Yuvraj doesn’t deserve a place in the Test squad. Kumble is making a mess of the middle order by taking Yuvraj on. Indians were doing well against Pakistan with the normal batting order. Kumble and the team management should rethink their strategy for the second Test, else Australia will dominate the whole series.

— Prosenjit Bose

New Panvel

Batting with basics

•The dismal performance in the Melbourne Test once again exposes our weakness while batting on fast, bouncy tracks. This weakness has been with us for long, but nothing has been done to address it. Why aren’t fast tracks being prepared on Indian soil? At another level, why was a seven-match ODI series planned with Pakistan when the Australia tour was due next, leaving little time for the players to adjust. The BCCI, easily the richest board in world cricket, has been guilty of such doings in the past, packing tight schedules and costing us tournaments due to injuries and exhaustion. While the BCCI is eternally seized of issues like players’ contracts and controversies involving television rights, it has never really applied itself to broad but basic issues. A lot of groundwork remains to be done if Indian cricket is to be a force to reckon with.

— Abhinav Sharma

Chandigarh