It is not who, but how

Stubbornness and the ability to surprise have been the defining motifs of Sourav Ganguly's life. Some people now seek to add the word 'selfish' to it and they are wrong.

Stubbornness and the ability to surprise have been the defining motifs of Sourav Ganguly's life. Some people now seek to add the word 'selfish' to it and they are wrong. Every cricketer, like every manager, artist and editor, is selfish to a point and that is not such a bad thing as long as it does not interfere with the functioning of a unit.

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By opening the batting, is Ganguly jeopardising the efficiency of the unit? On current form, I think the answer is yes but not because he is putting self above the team.

Ganguly is an aggressive one-day batsman and his record suggests he is the right man to open the batting. He has scored runs all around the world but even the greats, and he is one, need to effect tactical retreats at times.

Bravado is a good quality but in his current form, someone else needs to display it. Going down the order occasionally is not a sign of defeat, merely replacing one missile with another. We sometimes assign too much importance to the batting number; it is not a mantra that must be recited in the right order.

Given the very substantial batting problems, and the worry in the dressing room, India must send out at the top of the order, two men with the least cluttered minds. That is why Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag must walk out together against Zimbabwe.

Tendulkar has looked easily India's best batsman and seems happy to go out first and Sehwag is still free of baggage in the mind, a disease that seems to afflict those more experienced. He also has this ability, sometimes infuriating but often effective, of putting his natural game above what the playing conditions dictate. The track will seam in Harare and the bowlers must not be allowed to settle.

Tendulkar and Sehwag are the most equipped to do so.

We often ask ourselves the question "what if" when Tendulkar opens the batting. It is a question that the opposition must ask itself. By posing it themselves, the batting side is giving away its state of mind.

In a mind game like cricket, that is often all that the opposition needs to know. I don't think Tendulkar asks himself "what if".

India are currently very low on confidence. You can see that in the cautious manner in which they approach a match. When you fear the worst your weapons lead you there and you can see that in the footwork, in the shot selection, in the running between the wickets.

That is why you need two players who, in cricketing terms, are extroverts, to go in first. If they can produce the start and put Zimbabwe on the defensive, it will allow the likes of Dravid and Ganguly to rediscover runs, and form, in the more subdued middle overs.

India are apprehensive, Zimbabwe have little to lose. By the time they walk out to bat, India's openers must reverse that. They must carry confidence, they must make the opposition apprehensive. That is why Sehwag and Tendulkar need to open the batting at Harare.

But remember in the end, it is not who bats, but how he bats, that matters.