The cricketing future of the Fab Four – Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V V S Laxman and Sourav Ganguly – of late is a much talked about issue and many have already come to the conclusion that the on-going England tour will be the last visit for them to this part of the world as professional cricketers.

But Mike Brearley, former England captain and the owner of one of the shrewdest cricketing brain, thought differently albeit not so surprisingly. He believed that Dravid and Tendulkar have the capacity to go on for some more time at the top level.

Pat for Sachin, Dravid
"Dravid and Tendulkar could go on playing for another four-five years, I imagine, if they have the will. I would encourage Dravid and Tendulkar to keep playing. They are not that old, Graham Gooch played till 39-40, Boycott was playing at 39 and I was playing at 39 --- even I! There is no particular reason why these two should not carry on! They have perfect techniques and they are physically fit. It's just a matter of ambition, the wish to keep playing. As a selector, I'd say to him: 'Look, we can't say how you're going to play in two years time, but in general terms, I hope you keep playing," Brearley said.

Brearley, however, did not back Ganguly and Laxman to play as long as the other two, despite the fact that the duo has been batting well at the moment.

"I was rather surprised that they brought Ganguly back. He is a terrific cricketer with a wonderful eye, but he doesn’t have the technique of a Dravid or a Tendulkar.

Laxman is a more elegant player than Ganguly, but he's not quite as solid a player as the other two. I am not saying that they are not fine players, that they are, but you should not think just about the next match or the next series, but the next few years. As a selector I'd be looking horses for longer term," he said.

But he agreed that losing all the four at the same time could hamper Indian cricket.

"I suppose the real risk for Indian cricket is if they lose all of them all at once, which might happen. But there is a way in front of the Indian selectors," he said.

The way he suggested, however, might come as a bit anathema to the Indian system.

"The Australians would arrange it so that if they thought someone was not likely to get better and was likely to get worse, and there was another player who's younger but nearly as good, then they would get rid of the player belonging to the former category.

And they do it sooner rather than later, so they are quite ruthless about it. And actually, in this situation, I think, I would be too adopting the same method. That is the way for them also (Indian selectors). The selectors have got to look after the interests of the team," he said.

‘Focus on spinners’
Brearley also said that the Indian authorities should concentrate on the development of spinners as well.
" It's a worry. Kumble is a terrific cricketer, and he's done a wonderful job for India. I wonder what happened to Harbhajan Singh. But Powar is not such a good replacement. He's all right, he spins the ball quite a bit, but I can't imagine him getting many wickets in Tests. He does not have much variation.

Perhaps, more of a one-day bowler than a Test match bowler. You will have to find a suitable replacement soon," he added.