What Should India do now before the Perth Test?

With India losing the first 2 tests against Australia comprehensively with a collective batting and bowling failure, swords are already out. Heads are being counted and are being asked to slash. Everybody is giving his own opinion as to whom to drop, whom to pick ahead of the 3rd test. Whether India can actually do something to revive itself and comeback strongly into the series. So what Should India do now before the Perth test?

Bring in Rohit Sharma- Yes, that is the need of the hour. Batting has miserably failed in the first 2 tests and shockingly even on the good batting strip of Sydney. Rohit Sharma is a talented youngster who needs to be picked in the team. He is a technically sound player who has exceptional balance and good temperament to suceed. Plus he is in good form. I always preffered Rohit Sharma over Virat Kohli but still Virat is also a good player and there was not much fuss regarding his selection over Rohit. But after Virat's failure to cope with the moving ball, Rohit's selection becomes all the more important. Add to that he is in exceptional form considering performances at home against the West Indies.

Whom to Drop?- The real question is if Rohit is to be brought in then who should be dropped. I don't think Kohli should be dropped. He is a young player who needs backing for a long time to feel secure of his place and play freely. We all know his talent and he will definitely learn to adjust to these conditions. Tendulkar is in good form and Dhoni for obvious reasons cannot be dropped. So that leaves us with only 2 choices. Either Laxman or Dravid. I would prefer Laxman being dropped because Dravid would be better equipped to play at Perth than Laxman. Laxman has a tendency to hang on the back foot when the ball is moving and with it his feet too stop moving. He needs a spinner to get his feet to move and with a 4 pronged pace attack expected to be fielded by the Aussies, its Dravid who would be better off playing the pace bowlers at Perth.

A Bowling Change- Bowling has also flopped barring the decent performance at the MCG. Apart from Zaheer nobody else has looked menacing. Ishant is bowling well but somehow does n't get wickets. Though we don't have much choice in the pace department we certainly have a choice in the spin department. Ashwin has not been able to pick wickets in the series. I feel India needs to do something different and what would be better than fielding the left arm spinner, Pragyan Ojha. Many would argue saying Ashwin bowled on non-spin friendly tracks and that he bats well too. But for India to win matches top 7 need to bat well. A lone 50 from no. 8 cannot take India to victory. As the Perth pitch would again be a pace friendly wicket there is no harm in changing the spin bowler.  And maybe the right handed in form duo of Clarke and Ponting might just struggle against the left armer. Ojha is bowling well and showed good signs in the test series at home against the West Indies.

While drastic changes must only be made after the series gets over, these kind of short term changes do need to be implemented to at least give India a chance of leveling the series. Mickey Arthur, the coach of Australia has said that Rohit should not be played straightaway at Perth. But I feel that Rohit needs backing and even if he fails at Perth he should not be dropped and must be given a long chance. That way he would be more confident and would play freely without fear of losing his place.

I can only hope that India fights back in the Perth test the way they did 4 years back. Fingers Crossed.