Hey guys, the World Cup is just six weeks away. Wakey, wakey!

India's top batsman is nursing a sore back; India's captain a sore shoulder; two of India's opening bowlers (Srinath and Agarkar) have just returned after various fitness problems; another (Venkatesh Prasad) is being 'rested' or is that 'rusted'?

Oh and the guy who has temporarily taken over the captaincy in Azhar's absence is still not sure of his place in the side.

Yes, believe it or not, Ajay Jadeja is scratching around for form. The half-century he scored against Pakistan at Jaipur was more a 'justification' knock than anything else.

But then what has he been doing opening the batting in the first two games of the Pepsi Cup? Why this piece-meal arrangement even while a genuine opener (S Ramesh) sits it out. And remember, Jadeja is one of the best middle-order batsmen around. As he proved in the third match.

Now, it's all well and noble to experiment and try out youngsters. But then Vinod Kambli can hardly be classified as one. So he's given half a chance and then promptly dropped!

By the way, does anyone recall when the final 15 is being chosen? How come every other participating nation has announced their final pick while we are still dithering? All this uncertainty must be hell for the players' nerves. Who is in and who is out? Who knows?

And coming back to the captaincy issue, trust bigmouth Shivlal Yadav to spill the beans.

Yes, Sachin Tendulkar refused the vice-captaincy. He obviously wants the captaincy back in due course, but strictly on his own terms. The young man has obviously learned his lessons from his mentor, Little Master I.

And let's make no bones about it: if India fail to reach the Super Six--a distinct possibility when you look at the other teams in our group-- then it's certain to be curtains for the incumbent. And the heir apparent will happily step in and claim the throne that was thrust on him two years ago.

So Azhar knows the proverbial sword is hanging over his head and his panicky statements have done him no good.

All that whingeing about the press is just so much baloney. To talk of team morale being affected on the eve of the World Cup makes it look like the Indian cricket team is an army marching into war.

Of course there's been the usual "Bong Pong' raised in the Calcutta press about 'Saurav-da' being passed up for the vice-captaincy of the Test side in favour of Anil Kumble. There's all this talk about the captain and one of his star batsmen being 'kutti'. But really, does one care about such a non-issue?

Now a little bird told me that the present captain was not too keen on keeping his job. The reason: the pressure of leading for another World Cup was proving too much.

But then Little Master II is playing the waiting game to perfection. And the incumbent really does not much on his hands.

So where does this all leave Indian cricket? In a shambles. Nothing new, you may say. But then we are talking here about the World Cup. And yes, it doesn't get bigger than this.

Meanwhile, the team goes hobbling around the country and then onto Sharjah. Who can doubt all the injuries have been suffered due to an excess of cricket. It also proves our cricketers are not 100 per cent fit and tend to pick up injuries galore. Certainly you would have serious doubts as to their fitness levels if you watch them in the field. Surely we are the worst fielding

Side of any country in the World Cup, except perhaps Bangladesh. What a pleasant thought!

So enough already, let's choose the team and allow them to settle down.

For whatever it's worth, here's Fair Game's 15 for the World Cup: Azharuddin, Jadeja, Tendulkar, Kumble, Ganguly, Srinath, Agarkar, Venkatesh Prasad, Robin Singh (sr), Mongia, Chopra, Dravid, Virender Sehwag, S Ramesh, Laxmi Rattan Shukla.

Illustration by Siddhartha Mitra