Once removed from his responsibilities as leader of the team, will Azharuddin decide to call it a day? Or should he carry on and hope to retain his place in the side as a batsman alone? Well, it would, at a guess, be a difficult choice to make, both for Azharuddin, as well as the selectors.

Kapil Dev, who stretched his career a bit too far when Azharuddin was enjoying huge slices of success while leading the Indian team, wants Azharuddin to retire. Kapil must be well aware how painful and difficult such decisions are to make, more so in an age when longevity on the cricket field is directly linked with greater financial rewards a player gets through endorsements off it. Kapil has gone through that phase andshould know such things are easier said than done.

Azharuddin, today, must be in a real dilemma. He has been one of the most outstanding batsman of our age, of that there should be no doubt. The grace and elegance with which he addressed the ball, that too in the most unorthodox a manner, puts him in the category of batsmen who are a sheer joy to watch.

But of late, that silken touch of his seems to have deserted him. At 36, he is no longer getting younger. With each passing day, the reflexes must be getting slower and it will be difficult for him to regain the form which regaled the cricketing world not so long ago. Even in the best of times fast tracks have tested his skills to the limit and more often than not, he has failed to get on top of the bouncing ball.

On the slow wickets of the sub-continent, Azharuddin may still be able to command the ball into the gaps with the help of his magical wrists. But to expect him to do so in Australia, where India travel at the end of the year, is to hope for amiracle.

In between today and the time the team leaves for Australia for its first severe test after the World Cup failure, are a series of one-day games in the sub-continent. Azharuddin must be hoping to be retained in the side, at least, for those games.

He may be retained for that period but the selectors have to contend with one very ticklish problem. Like all senior players who find it difficult to carry their weight in the team, Azharuddin, too, has become `unwanted'. Who wants a sulking ex-captain in the team? Sad but true.

It is time for Azharuddin to introspect and make a choice. Either quit gracefully or like most past greats -- Sunil Gavaskar is the only honorable exception -- be told very soon: You are no longer required.