He's one of the most explosive openers in the world when it comes to One-Day Internationals. His ability to get going from the word go and exploit the gaps in the field created by the field restrictions in the early overs is unrivalled in the present Indian team. He is the Lord and master of all he surveys on the off side, and yet there is a suggestion that he should drop himself down to the middle order. That, if anything is the surest sign that a touch of confusion - even desperation - has found its way into the Indian think tank.

In the case of Sourav Ganguly batting in the middle order, the statistics are damning. As an opener, the Indian captain has played 147 innings for India. In those knocks the Indian captain has amassed 6132 runs at an average of 45.42. That in itself is an exemplary record. Now pit this against the 18 occasions when Ganguly has batted in the middle order. A mediocre return of 516 runs at an average of 32.25. Clearly, the Indian captain is at his best when the first 15 overs fielding restrictions are in place.

What's more, Ganguly has never scored a century when he has not opened the innings. A best of 85 in the middle order simply pales in comparison to the career best 183 the Bengal Tiger scored against Sri Lanka at Taunton in the World Cup. A truly matchwinning knock that, just one among Ganguly's 16 tons.

With the Indian batting line up missing the experience of Sachin Tendulkar, solidity is the need of the hour. Rahul Dravid has found the going tough with the ball not coming onto the bat on slow wickets. VVS Laxman has made starts without going on to make big scores. The rest of the batting line up lacks experience and simply cannot be trusted to rise up in the face of challenge. "They have the ability, but then, they have to perform on the field of play. It would really help if the youngsters in the middle order got some runs," said Ganguly after India's second loss in the Coca-Cola Cup in Sri Lanka. These youngsters don't inspire any confidence in the captain and that does the team morale no good.

If India are to do well in the absence of Tendulkar it is imperative that a proper strategy is in place. In the two matches that India has lost in the Coca-Cola Cup thus far the lack of a cohesive plan was obvious. Amay Khurasiya, drafted in to open the innings, was left out of team for the first game where Yuvraj Singh, essentially a middle order batsman, was made to open. In the second clash Ganguly took himself lower down the order while Khurasiya and Ganguly opened. With Khurasiya and Yuvraj both failing, there is now talk that Dravid or Laxman may be asked to open the batting. Not ruling that out, Ganguly said, "We are looking into that as an option." Laxman has been tried as an opening batsman in Tests in what was a failed experiment. Dravid, who is having trouble scoring quickly is hardly the right man to get India off to a positive start.

Unfortunately, the current climate in the Indian camp makes it impossible to predict who will walk out to open the innings for India in the remaining matches of the Coca-Cola Cup. There's very little to choose from when it comes to the Khurasiya vs Yuvraj Singh argument. Asking either Laxman or Dravid to open is at best a shot in the dark. Come to think of it, there's really only one thing that is a proven success for India Ganguly opening the batting.

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