How do you do?

In Indian cricket, it is not how you do but who you know that matters.

Come with me while I show you what I mean. The following players are under contract with the BCCI:

Grade A (Rs. 60 lakhs): Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Anil Kumble, Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan.

Grade B (Rs. 40 lakhs): Wasim Jaffer, S Sreesanth, VVS Laxman, Dinesh Karthik, RP Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag.

Grade C (Rs. 25 lakhs): Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Ramesh Powar, Munaf Patel, Robin Uthappa, Piyush Chawla and Suresh Raina.

Grade D (Rs 15 lakhs): Manoj Tiwary, Rohit Sharma, Joginder Sharma, Ishant Sharma, Ranadeb Bose, Mohammad Kaif, Cheteshwar Pujara, Parthiv Patel, S Badrinath, Aakash Chopra, Yusuf Pathan.

President Sharad Pawar told the media that Grade D was aimed at nurturing new talents, who are on the fringe of making it to the Indian team, by giving them stability and financial backing. Chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar said, “They have done very well in the India A tours and we look upon them as India prospects.”

Ignoring gradations, here's how it breaks down:

Opening batsmen: Wasim Jaffer, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Aakash Chopra.

Competition for this opening spot has been tough with the first three playing musical chairs with Dinesh Karthik and Rahul Dravid thrown in on the odd occasion someone needed a spot in the middle order. Of late, however, Gambir and Sehwag have cemented their spot, relegating Jaffer to the Ranji leagues, his technique having been found wanting at the highest level against the Aussies.

Gautam Gambhir got himself a 1 match ban and is not available for the 4th Test. So, naturally the Indian selectors reach back into the centrally contracted talent pool and select M Vijay as his replacement. Makes sense....wait...err...M Vijay?

Who is M Vijay? Since I cannot ask the girls next door, let's check with CricInfo.

Murali Vijay: 34 innings, 1505 runs, 4 centuries, 4 fifties, average of 47.03.

He scored a double century (243) in his latest first-class match so the numbers get better. Other facts that emerge about him are that he was the third-highest run-getter in the Ranji Trophy with 628 runs in seven games at a 50-plus average in 2006-07. This year, he is the third highest scorer so far in this season.

The stats are nice and undeniably indicate a young man who could be a great player in the years to come. But when the incumbent misses a match, as is the case here with Gambhir, then the next in line ought to come from the pool of centrally contracted players, right? I mean, that is why you pay them to stay on the fringes.

Wasim Jaffer did not do well against the Australians so I can understand not trying him. But right behind him is the leading run-getter from last season, and the guy who is in 4th place (one place behind Vijay) in runs this year, too - Aakash Chopra. He is a centrally contracted player (level D) who can also replace Gambhir at the forward short-leg position. He has played for years with Sehwag and has a great understanding with him. Moreover, he has faced the best the Aussies could throw at him and acquited himself quite well in the past.

In a match as crucial as this one, the Indians are going to send in a tyro. I have no idea how good a player Vijay is and I am not saying anything about his ability here. But the person he is replacing could not keep his cool when confronted with the verbal barrage the Aussies get away with on the cricket field. Can Vijay handle this, on top of it being his first Test, while playing with teammates who would not be able to pick him out of a line-up?

I hope he does very well. If his career numbers so far are a accurate indicators, he has the capability to do very well. But the reason for this diatribe is this - would he have been pitchforked into the spotlight so soon had the Chairman of the selectors not been from Tamil Nadu? The cynic in me cannot reconcile that.

Aakash Chopra has done nothing wrong in the time he has spent on the sidelines, waiting for his chance to come. When it rightfully should have been his time, he has been by-passed. I just hope it does not come back to haunt the Indians in Nagpur.

The final nail in Aakash Chopra's international career just got rammed in. What rankles is that it came from the stroke of a biased selector's whim and not from an opponent on the cricketing field.