This tour of England could be his for few young players in world cricket deliver the cricket ball the way he can. But much would depend on whether an earnest young man takes the field or a regional media superstar. Sreesanth and Irfan Pathan can be what Maninder and Sivaramakrishnan could have been twenty years ago, they are that good. But for that they must breathe a different air; one that repels those that promise bags of riches and embraces those that deliver them the right work ethic. They have to rise above the reality surrounding them to find it.

And so to succeed in England, India’s cricketers will have to stop thinking of contracts and coaches and cameras (after the match against Ireland a young reporter on a national channel promptly wrote off Tendulkar!). Part of it is their job, most of it shouldn’t. As always India have the players to win in England. As always, I don’t know if they have the team, or indeed the atmosphere in which to win.