Retire when people ask why rather than why not. This was the reply that Indian cricket’s greatest technician, Vijay Merchant, had given when he was asked why he had quit the game despite scoring 154 in the just concluded Delhi Test match of the 1951-52 series. That retirement too, was in the middle of a series against the MCC, as the then England team was called when overseas, was touring India.

Announcing plans to retire at the end of the series is probably the best way to go from the game. That privilege can only be had by the undroppables, who, even if they are going through a horror series, cannot be left out of the eleven for reasons that are not always cricketing.