Replacing a batting legend

Has the fat lady started singing yet? No one knows for sure. All will be told when the series resumes at Perth. The clamor to get Rohit Sharma a go has been growing louder with many an expert wanting him to replace Laxman and not Virat.

It’s probably a very unpopular sentiment. When India does not do well, it is always Laxman who is most vulnerable. He has spent his entire career with this vulnerability.

It seems only a short while back when he played three glorious 4th inning knocks that gave us come from behind victories (Galle, Mohali). Laxman is noted for his batting on 4th day and 5th crumbling pitches. 

Then look at his incredible record against the Australians, in Australia. Not everybody can boast of 100+ run average in Australia (well, before this series started). Finally, a champion player does not spend an inordinate time in a slump. You and me both would not be suprised if he did splendidly in Perth, being so comfortable on the back foot. The number of recent victories he has given us should earn him a reprieve. 

Yet, yet, yet, I cannot but help think it would be the right move to drop him. If not for the Perth Test then after this series. Our long term planning mandates such a phase out. Consider the following facts.

• Our 3 surviving legends are aged 39, 39 and 37 respectively. As much as we love them, we cannot afford to have one farewell party for them all, we need to space those parties. A mass exodus will land us land us in deeper water than we are in. Consider that Zaheer and Sehwag are not getting younger either.
• India does not play an away Test series for more than a year after this miserable performance. You would expect our batsman to score big on sub continental pitches. It only camouflages our problem, does not solve it. All will be forgotten by the next series win in India.
• We have already lost 6 Test matches on the trot away from home with our batting legends in attendance. (Neither Dravid nor Laxman had injury issues in England while Sachin was coming back from a sabbatical) The infusion of fresh blood cannot be any worse than it currently is. 
• The worst of it is that this is supposedly our best injury free Team, both batting and bowling.
• We cannot/should not continue to play musical chairs with the No. 6 batting. Virat needs to play out this entire series regardless of his performance. That is the best assessment for his long term viability in the Test team. Dropping him for Rohit after 2 Test matches sends all kinds of wrong signals. If he has still not performed well, then so be it. 

In an ideal world, our legends should be allowed to walk away on their own terms. I hope someone is talking to them and building a phase out plan. Even if Perth is the wrong time, the end of this Test series should signal the beginning of the end of our legendary batting line up.