And far too many of them, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh are learning that they need to be dropped to become better cricketers. It is not wrong to be dropped if a better player shows up but that is not always the case with a lot of younger players who give the impression that it is unfashionable to just get on with it.

Does the quote and the close-up get more important than the scoreboard sometimes? And to think it didn’t with Tendulkar, with Kumble, with Laxman, with Ganguly even and certainly with Dravid. Those are fine role models with fine records.

India must play aggressively against Australia and Pakistan. They must, as Kumble told me many years ago, seek to take a wicket everytime the ball is in their hands, for that is the best definition of aggression you will ever get.

They must take bold decisions and bat bravely and run hard and stop every ball that must be stopped. Otherwise they will let their team down. To be silent is not to be soft. Assassins don’t scream from the rooftop before they press the trigger.

Tendulkar’s smile and Kumble’s piercing look have made many barbed comments innocuous. India must play to their strength. Raving and ranting and gesturing isn’t a strength. A calm, calculating mind is.