5-point plan for the Indian team after the 2011 Boxing Day test loss, looking ahead to the New Year and beyond.

It’s time to have a plan for Dravid

How long is he going to play? He obviously wants to take it series by series and match by match, but No.3 is a crucial position, not to mention first slip. India has to phase him out, starting with moving him out of first slip to begin with – far too many catches have gone down in the recent past, the drop of Hussey towards the end of Day 3 at the MCG only being the latest of many over the last year.

Decide on one batsman who’s identified as good enough for the future

This is not easy given the limited chances they’ve got but it’s got to be one of Pujara, Sharma or Kohli. (If I had to take a punt, that would be on Pujara). You have to give that person an extended run.

Dhoni as batsman

He has to work harder as a test batsman. He’s more capable than he’s letting himself be. I know his technique is nowhere as good enough for a top order batsman, but he needs to develop a mind-set that allowed players such as Gilchrist at No.7 and Kapil Dev and Ian Botham (who could bat at number 6) to play counter-attacking cricket consistently.  

Dhoni as captain

We can’t give away easy singles, no matter what the situation is. Probe a guy for six continuous balls – that’s the best way to build pressure on a batsman. Singles were far too easy to come at the MCG. Is it the absence of Kirsten that Dhoni is letting the game meander? Are the senior trio and Sehwag not giving him inputs? They should be, if they are not.

Running through the tail

We all knew Kumble’s absence was going to hurt in this area. Harbhajan, to begin with, was promising, but then up and down and now out. Ashwin has to take up the responsibility for this job, with support from the pace bowlers, and more importantly his captain with the fields he sets.