Toss up between Laxman, Mishra and Kumble?

Test captain will have nightmares on his inclusion for the next game. He might be raring to play on his favourite hunting ground, but disturbing a winning combination would be a mean task for the team management. Or else somebody will have to sacrifice.

Beating the world champions hands down would have done a world of good to the skipper-in-waiting Dhoni. The Jharkhand lad took on the mantle after Test skipper Anil Kumble was unavailable due to a nagging shoulder injury. And mind you the ODI skipper has maintained a 100 % win record as the Test captain.

Understandably fingers will point in various directions after this victory which came sans India's most successful Test bowler. The next Test which will be played after a week will raise many questions. Two of the biggest and the most pertinent of them all would be 'Where does Kumble fit in the scheme of things' or 'Who will be sacrificed for Kumble's berth.'

The only reasons why Kumble should be in itself are questioning his entry. Seems like his strengths are going against him. As a captain, Dhoni's success can't be ignored. As a bowler, his replacement Amit Mishra has done enough to merit a place in the Delhi encounter.

Let us see if we can find an answer for the first question:

Looking at Dhoni, under his leadership, the team has stood up like a rock more than any individual brilliance. Leading for the first time against the visiting Proteas he got the best out of Ishant Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Sreesanth, Piyush Chawla and Sourav Ganguly for a convincing 8 wicket victory in Kanpur earlier this year.

This match, he led from the front with a man-of-the-match award winning performance. He seems to have passed the acid test.

Mishra spun an unexpected web claiming five Australian batsmen in first and two in the second innings. The victory seems to have gone against the Karnataka stalwart. The Haryana leggie who has taken the grind of eight domestic seasons for over 300 wickets in domestic circuit also has the backing of national selector Narendra Hirwani who had a similar debut.

Therefore, on merit the mechanical engineer can hardly replace any player. Openers have fired, the middle order has sustained the pressure, the keeper has played his role to perfection, and bowlers could not have done any better. Who then would become the sacrificial lamb?

The selectors and team management would need to gather some courage to fit in three spinners at the cost of a batsman. One cannot rule out this logic if you want to accommodate a player who is in form. The most vulnerable candidate in this case would be VVS Laxman. He has not been able to threaten the brittle Aussie attack.

With the Ferozshah Kotla in Delhi having been Jumbo's favourite hunting ground with 55 wickets in 6 games. It would look foolish on the part of team management to drop a fit Kumble from the next game. Therefore, one should not be surprised if the debutant leggie becomes the bakraa.

But on his past record, the biggest thorn in the Aussie flesh has been this stylish Hyderabadi. Therefore as the day comes closer, all eyes would be on Kumble and the decision makers to find out who will miss out in the musical chairs.

s_gautam@dnaindia.net