Heads have rolled, finally.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel, opener Aakash Chopra, medium-pacer Ajit Agarkar and middle-order-batsman-turned-forced opener Yuvraj Singh have been asked to go home and sort out their problems, technical and mental.

Replacing them in the Indian squad of 14 for the final 'dead' Test at Mumbai are Dinesh Karthik, Gautam Gambhir, Dheeraj Jadhav and Shib Sankar Paul.

The selection of these four players augurs well for the morale of many a domestic cricketer in India, who is struggling to come to terms with a theory rapidly gaining credence in cricketing circles, that performances at the national level don't count for much, as it is only a 'chosen few' who get opportunities again, and again, and again. Paul, Jadhav, Gambhir and Karthik entered the limelight with impressive performances not only for their respective state and zonal sides in the Ranji and Duleep trophies, but also for India 'A', on the twin tours undertaken by the 'second-best' side to Zimbabwe and Kenya earlier in the year. A man as delighted as the four would be Sandeep Patil, the coach of the India 'A' team, who was impressed with all of them, and in turn, impressed upon all of them that they had it in them to do well at the highest level.

Meet India's 'Fresh Four':

Shib Sankar Paul:

The seamer from the North Bengal district of Cooch Behar made his first-class debut for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy in 2000-01, the year in which India smashed Australia's dream of conquering the 'Final Frontier' under the leadership of fellow Bengali Sourav Ganguly. Ganguly was an inspiration, as was Karsan Ghavri, the incumbent Bengal coach who had bowled with the new ball for India with distinction in the late 70s and early 80s. After three uneventful seasons, Paul staked his claim for the big league in 2003-04 with with as many as 50 wickets from eight Ranji Trophy games. His best performance was a 'tenner' against Tamil Nadu 9including 7-44 in the first innings), on a 'flat', typically pace-unfriendly and batting-friendly Indian wicket. Which goes to show that the man has a big heart, and does not believe in giving up. He went on to be India's most successful bowler in the triangular tournament in Kenya, with 13 wickets from seven games, and the best bowling average of 17.

Dheeraj Jadhav:

A left-handed opener from Maharashtra, He was known as a 'strokeless wonder' until last season. He emerged as the only batsman to score over a 1,000 runs in the 2003-04 edition of the Ranji Trophy, his batting playing no mean part in ensuring Maharashtra's triumph in the Plate League and subsequent elevation to the Elite league for the 2004-05 season. His 1066 runs in the Ranji Trophy comprised one hundred, three fifties and three double hundreds. He struck 257 runs from six games at an average of 51 in the triangular tournament in Kenya earlier in the year. His 89 in the final against a strong Pakistan 'A' outfit was instrumental in taking his side to a comprehensive victory by six wickets. Jadhav's inclusion would have sparked off celebrations among supporters of the Maharashtra cricket team, whose players have generally been ignored over the past two or three decades after Chandu Borde's retirement, apart from the odd game / series or two given to the Kanitkars (father and son), Salil Ankola (before he shifted to Mumbai) and Iqbal Siddiqui (one Test in 2001-02).

Gautam Gambhir:

His experience of playing at the international level (five one-day internationals against South Africa and Bangladesh in March-April 2003) might well lead to his inclusion in the XI for the Mumbai Test ahead of Jadhav. Like Jadhav, Gambhir is a left-handed opener who loves to get on with it.

He came into prominence over two seasons ago with a double hundred against the touring Zimbabweans in 2001-02. He continued to perform at the domestic level thereafter, and also did well for India 'A' on a tour of the West Indies at the end of the 2002-03 season. He would have been picked for India in 2003-04, had it not been for the success of his Delhi mates Virender Sehwag and Aakash Chopra as an opening pair in the Test matches. Gambhir struck 325 runs from seven games of the triangular tournament in Kenya, at an average of 54. He also averages over 50 in the Ranji Trophy. A confident and aggressive batsman who has all the shots in the book and is comfortable against pace as well as spin, he would be looking forward to the opportunity to show that his successes in domestic and India 'A' are not flukes.

Dinesh Karthik:

As Parthiv Patel continued to floor one catch after another and miss one stumping after another, it was a question of 'when' rather than 'if' Dinesh Karthik, who had done a fine job behind the stumps in England over a month ago, would get the call from the national selectors. His certain inclusion in the XI at Mumbai will make him the second 'under-19' stalwart after Irfan Pathan to play for the senior Indian team inside a year, and that is a tremendous shot in the arm for junior cricket in India. Karthik kept wickets superbly in the under-19 World Cup held in Bangladesh earlier this year and also batted well, the highlight being his 70 off only 39 deliveries against Sri Lanka. He had previously made his first-class debut for Tamil Nadu at the age of 17. His competent keeping and two hundreds at the knockout stage of the Ranji Trophy in 2003-04, including an innings of 109 in the final against the champion Mumbai team, left no one in any doubt as to his abilities behind and in front of the wickets. Picked at Patel's expense in the Indian squad for the triangular series in Holland, three-match series against England and the ICC Champions Trophy in Aug-Sept 2004, he held four catches and affected a brilliant stumping, that of English skipper Michael Vaughan, in the two games that he got to play. In fact, his stumping was the only reason why Indian fans remember that disastrous series against England that Ganguly's team lost 1-2. One hopes that Karthik will create more such moments in the days and weeks to follow.

One also hopes that the omission of as many as four cricketers will prompt the out-of-form players who have been retained in the side to pull up their socks!