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Miffed Sachin to go back up the order

Someone once said, individuals make mistakes but to really make an unholy mess, you need a committee. Sachin Tendulkar is finding that out, the hard way, as Mohammad Azharuddin found it out before him.

It was in Azhar's time that the Indian team found itself playing a series on home soil and, 12 hours after the last match, flying off to Sharjah and immediately going onto the field.

Azhar fumed then, and demanded that the captain and coach be consulted before schedules are drawn up. Now it is Tendulkar's turn to protest a schedule that has the Indians playing 3 ODIs in four days with a long flight thrown in between, then a further four ODIs in six days, including a double header.

It is not the first time schedules have been drawn up by the Board without consulting the captain and coach, nor is it likely to be the last. On the previous occasion, when Azhar for once lost his cool and erupted, BCCI secretary J Y Lele promptly claimed that the captain and coach had been consulted. Azhar immediately hit back and said he had not seen the schedule until it was finalised. Lele came back with a dilly, claiming that the previous captain and coach -- namely, Tendulkar and Madan Lal -- had been consulted since the schedule for Sharjah had been drawn up when those two gentlemen were at the helm. No way, Madan Lal promptly said in a press conference, adding: "I have never, ever, been consulted on any schedule at any time."

Nothing further was heard, besides a pompous announcement from the board that henceforth, the captain and coach would be consulted before any international schedule is finalised.

``This is unfair," the Indian captain says of the ODI schedule. ``If you want to see quality cricket, you need to give the players recovery time. We are not playing at the same venue. There's a lot of travel involved.''

Whatever. Tendulkar's protest now is as futile as Azharuddin's was then, given how the board operates.

Meanwhile, wisdom has apparently dawned -- albeit a bit late -- on the team management. Thus, for the must-win day-night game at the Sydney Cricket Ground tomorrow, Sachin Tendulkar will revert to the top of the order to join Saurav Ganguly, in a bid to give the innings the impetus it has lacked in the early overs.

VVS Laxman will drop down to number four, while the team management is yet to make up its mind whether to persist with Jacob Martin at five, or to bring in off-spinner Nikhil Chopra on a track that should assist seam and spin equally.

Australia meanwhile are contemplating the inclusion of Stuart McGill in the starting lineup, with the choice of twelfth man being between Adam Dale and Shane Lee. Early indications are that Lee, an outstanding fielder who, besides bowling a tight line and length also took out Tendulkar in the Melbourne game with a laser-sharp throw in from the deep, could get the nod on the basis of his fielding and batting abilities backing his medium pace bowling.

The track at the SCG is expected to be bouncy, with a bit of turn for those prepared to give the ball a bit of a rip.