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ADELAIDE: Virender Sehwag sat out of the tri-series opener in Melbourne. It was Gautam Gambhir’s turn then to be ’rested’ for the match against Sri Lanka at the WACA on Wednesday. 

Now the big question: Will the team management have the guts to ask the Master to sit out of the clash against Australia at the Adelaide Oval to accommodate Rohit Sharma and thereby delay the legend’s quest for the elusive 100th hundred? 

After notching up the first win of the tri-series against Sri Lanka in Perth on Wednesday, Indian skipper MS Dhoni was noncommittal about the possibility of resting Tendulkar for Sunday’s encounter, but insisted India would continue to drop one of their top three to make space for Sharma in the middle-order. "You will have to wait and watch," Dhoni said. 

Tendulkar, who holds the all-time record for the most centuries, runs and appearances in both Tests and ODIs, has not got into three figures since his 111 against South Africa at the World Cup in Nagpur. And if India ignore calls from former cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar and Wasim Akram to do away their rotation policy, the wait will continue. 

"I think Sachin should be playing in all matches," Gavaskar told a news channel. "If you want to use a rotation policy, then it should be used for all the players. I believe that Tendulkar, Gambhir and Sehwag should play and maybe one among Rohit or Raina should sit out." 

Wasim Akram, in his column in the TOI on Thursday, also criticized India’s decision to rotate players. "When a team is not doing well, the focus has to be on playing the best XI at all times to regain confidence. In a series like this, the hosts can afford to experiment, but not a visiting side."

These things seemed far from the minds of the Indian cricketers who seemed to be in a buoyant mood as they flew out of Perth into Adelaide on Thursday. Of course, they did have in their midst a disappointed man, Rohit Sharma, who sported a long face. He was unhappy that his cut went straight to point on Wednesday. "Back home it could have gone past or sailed over the fielder," he explained. 

The dismissal will be on Rohit’s mind for a while yet. When the famed Indian batting lineup was failing in the Test series, almost everyone wanted the talented Rohit to be included in the playing eleven. Now that he is finally getting opportunities in the tri-series, he is yet to make his presence felt. He failed to trouble the scorers in the first T20 game against Australia and scores of 21 and 10 in the first two one-dayers hardly do justice to a batsman of such immense potential. 

Despite Gavaskar’s suggestion of dropping either Rohit or Raina, the Mumbai youngster needn’t worry. In Dhoni, India have a captain who will give young players like him a fair run before getting dropped. Dhoni threw his weight behind Rohit too, suggesting that the youngster will be given enough chances to come good. "It’s not an easy thing to do. You get a chance and are always expected to perform in those couple of chances. It’s very important to give a long run to a batsman like him (Rohit)," said Dhoni.