Sehwag couldn't have asked for a better surface than the excellent pitch that the KSCA provided for the first match. There was bounce and carry and on most occasions, it was true which is wonderful for a virgin surface. And to be honest, Sehwag looked quite good against an attack which, though not world class, was reasonably demanding.

With most batsmen, it is the shots they play that determine whether or not they are in form. The back foot punch from Tendulkar, the flick wide of mid-on for Dravid, the cover drive and the pull for Ganguly. But with Sehwag it is what he doesn't do that gives a better clue. When Sehwag is not reaching out to balls wide off his stumps with his feet firmly planted on leg stump, you feel optimistic.

You get the feeling that he is putting a price on his wicket, for more often he surrenders it rather than forcing the bowler to earn it.

That is why I was quite excited seeing him play the initial overs in Bangalore. His left foot was forward and moving towards the ball, often he left it alone, and his best shots were played from close to the body.

Suddenly it wasn't a case of Russian roulette any more, it seemed there was intent behind facing every ball. Then he showed why he can be breathtaking and frustrating. In his forties, the feet found some glue, the bat, like an errant child, drifted away, lunged at the ball and the inner edge easily went through the resultant gap onto his stumps. The resolve wasn't strong enough but at least it had surfaced.

That is one of the problems with allowing bad habits to creep into your cricket. Often you know what to do with them but can't get yourself to do it because instinct, not logic, drives you when you drop your guard. That is why I believe that the non-striker could be crucial for Sehwag just to keep reminding him of his resolve; maybe just a word every couple of overs, maybe even a little gesture, anything.

I remember we did something similar in my first couple of years in live television. Out of a desire to get things done quickly, I spoke too fast. Our producer worked out that if he reminded me to “breathe” a few seconds before we went on air, I would consciously slow down. It became a game between us and from time to time, in my ear, I would hear the words “remember, breathe” coming in. It helped me enormously to the extent that I now say it to myself sometimes.

Like Sehwag, Harbhajan too needs all the help he can get to move out of this mid-career crisis. Currently he seems confused and the guile, so much a part of his extraordinary basket of offerings, is on leave. A spinner like Harbhajan is a storyteller, he must have the time to pick his words, his pauses, he must tease his audience and to do that he must be patient. Today, he seems in a hurry, do a quick précis and off again. A précis has little of the charm of the original, it merely states facts concisely and that is what I suspect he is doing. I wonder if he is insecure but these are precisely the areas a good coach will address when he has people with unbounded ability but fluctuating attitudes.

Some people have it in them to convert a setback into a stepping stone because it serves to strengthen their resolve. Others get crushed by even a small dip in performance, they lose confidence, they start thinking of failure when all they need is a little nudge back towards success.

A coach needs to have the time to understand his players enough; to know what drives them and what stifles them. That is why we should have completed the process of appointing a coach a month ago so that in Bangladesh he could have just watched and learnt and been ready to take over the side.

Now, the new man must get into the thick of things straightaway. It is not ideal and it has come to this because having a coach is not high on anyone's priority list. Sometimes our priorities tell us who we really are!