If Yuvraj Singh had been in top form, there may have been a point in the argument. If Rohit Sharma had consistently been racking up 100s and looking ready to let himself loose on the world, there could’ve been a case. If Kaif and Badrinath had shown adequate poise in their more public opportunities, there may have been some basis.

But it seems that we’re desperate for a change just because the middle-order looks old, and not because it’s living on borrowed time like, for example, Kapil Dev was in his last year when he was blocking a fully equipped Javagal Srinath.

Test cricket cannot be treated as a finishing school. One of the problems these days is that the media is so eager to pronounce young players as national heroes that some of their performances are blown completely out of proportion, leading to an impression that they’re good enough for the highest level even after a couple of one-day 40s.

When Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid made their Test debuts, the middle-order had been packed too, just as it always has been in India. But they made instant impact at the world stage when given half a chance, and didn’t let up for years after that. That’s how they managed to keep players such as Sanjay Manjrekar, Vinod Kambli and Praveen Amre out of the team. They were ready for the highest level when they broke in — they didn’t learn on the job.

The superiority of the middle-order ensured that a whole generation of talented India batsmen couldn’t make it to the Indian team because they weren’t good enough in comparison. But those who were genuinely gifted still tilted the scales in their favour — Sehwag was asked to open because he just couldn’t be kept out any longer, and went on to become one of the best in the world. More recently, Gautam Gambhir pushed Wasim Jaffer out by the sheer volume of runs he scored in the game’s shorter versions.

... contd.