First, Indian cricket's apex body appointed a three-man committee comprising Raj Singh Dungarpur, J Y Lele and Sunil Manohar Gavaskar to probe the circumstances behind the abrupt departure of the Indian batsman from England midway through the recent tour. And now board president Inderjit Singh Bindra, former president P M Rungta and former Test star Mohinder Amarnath will comprise a three-man committee to ruminate on the report of that earlier committee.

Whyfor?

As matters stood, the three-man enquiry committee had, after listening to the testimony of Sidhu himself, skipper Azharuddin, deputy Tendulkar, manager Patil and administrative manager C Nagaraj, reported that there was no substance in Sidhu's earlier allegation that he had been singled out for humiliation by his captain, and that his departure from England was an emotional reaction from a hyper-sensitive individual.

Now comes committee number two - to read that report (which, incidentally, covers all of one fulscap page) and decide what to do with it - and with Sidhu, while they are about it.

The board, of course, has its own reasons to justify this seemingly method-less madness. ``The committee has been constituted,'' says an official source, ``in accordance with Clause 38 (ii) of the memorandum and rules and regula- tions of the BCCI.''

Er... to what purpose? ``To decide what action, if any, to take on the controversy,'' was the response.

Flashback: once the Dungarpur committee filed its report, the board had asked Sidhu to show cause why he should not be disciplined for his walkout act during the England tour. Sidhu, by way of response, had not shown any cause why he should not be acted against, but merely said that he was prepared to abide by whatever decision the board takes.

So why this committee, you will ask. You shouldn't - remember ``Clause 38 (ii)....'' and all the rest of it?

The official word, meanwhile, is that Bindra, Rungta and Amarnath will meet at Mohali (incidentally, Sidhu's own home ground) on August 25. Sidhu has been asked to ap- pear before it, the spokesman says. And the committee will then decide what to do with the Indian batsman.

Will the committee's decision be final? ``No,'' says the selfsame spokesman. ``It will submit a recommendation to the BCCI.''

And judging by precedent, the board, presumably, will appoint another committee to study that recommenda- tion...

Meanwhile, Sidhu's disciplining has already begun, with his claim for inclusion in the upcoming Singer Cup and Sahara Cup tournaments being shelved. ``Sidhu's inclusion in the Indian side is subject to the board's being satisfied with his reply to the show cause notice,'' was the official comment by board secretary Jagmohan Dalmiya, when the national team was announced in Calcutta a week ago.

Newly appointed India skipper Sachin Tendulkar, meanwhile, preferred to steer clear of all comment on the issue. However, he did make one significant remark. ``Sidhu will be a great asset to the side when we tour the West Indies and South Africa later this year,'' Tendulkar said in Madras.

Reading between those lines, the inference is clear. Already dropped from the side for Sri Lanka and Canada, Sidhu will as part of his punishment also sit out the upcoming one-off Test against Australia, and the tri- angular one-day series that will also involve South Africa, as part of his punishment for being too flighty and temperamen- tal for his own good.

And then, wind, weather and the various board committees past, present and future permitting, the lanky Indian batsman will probably do duty for the national side to- wards year-end.