Given the spate of commercials that Indian crickets have been involved in, you couldn't be blamed for wondering whether they spare any time on mundane matters like practice? And, it is much surprise that companies have decided to feature members of the 1983 team in their ads rather than the present lot of underachievers?

Of course, you would also be well aware of the `Great Captaincy Debate'. Should it be Mohammed Azharuddin or Ajay Jadeja? Matters are settled just for the time being since Azhar has already been named for the Cup. But the real question is - should it be either?

Take Azhar first. He has to win this Cup. Believe us, he has to. Not only because if he comes back without it, not only will he be dumped from the top job, he would lose his place in the squad as well. Obviously, his batting in England will not be enough for him to hold on to his place. After all, Azhar has always been suspect against the moving ball, and if he were to manage even a couple of 50s, that would be more than expected of him.

But why is winning the Cup such a matter of desperation for him? Azhar is a man of expensive tastes - tony bungalows in Hyderabad and Mumbai, a fleet of souped up cars. Not the least of the luxuries he indulges himself in is known as Sangeeta Bijlani. Now there are some evil rumourmongers who say that our Captain may have earned himself a major chunk of debt. We, of course, don't believe them at all, and are just putting down their monstrous allegations just to show how monstrous they are.

About the debt. Well, Azhar needs to stay put in the team and keep getting his commercial endorsements and ad spots if he is to clear them. And if he doesn't win the Cup, he could be out on is butt. So well, here's definitely one occasion on which Azhar will have to bet on himself, and heavily at that.

That, of course, that brings us to the pretender to the throne - Ajay Jadeja. A couple of wins as skipper have suddenly made him the flavour of the month. People want to see him oust Azhar. But really? Isn't he just another bits-and-pieces player, who rarely changes to match on his own? And how is it that a couple of fluke victories have stemmed the flow of innuendo carried on against him in the recent past, basically in the context of bookies and gambling. No, no, we don't subscribe to that view. Of course not.

So basically what the Indian selectors have provided at the helm for Indian cricket, at least in the foreseeable future, is a choice between bad and mediocre. That's just great, ain't it?

Here another cute bit of information. Apparently, the intelligence agencies in India and the Mumbai police have picked up evidence about some prominent players being involved in the betting scandal. They've managed to get the records of cellphone use form grounds where internationals have been played. Calls have been made frequently to bookies while matches have been in progress!

But. apparently, such investigations have been buried for now. Mr Dalmiya wouldn't want a scandal erupting in his own backyard during the Cup now, would he? The thinking seems to along the lines of that adopted across the border. The Pakistani judge looking into the match-fixing charges has conveniently retarded the progress of his investigations and since the Pakistan team appears on a roll, has run into problems thereby delaying the release of his report.

Little birdies say that the judge could put out his report if the Pakis were to choke during the Cup and come back empty-handed. After all, right now popular sentiment is with the team, but that's transient. Remember in 1996, after the Pakis lost in the quarterfinals, homes of the players, including that of captain Wasim Akram, were stoned.

If they collapse in 1999, the ramifications could be much wider.