In a practice match in Birmingham on Thursday, two of India's leading batsmen continued to struggle even as India scored 311 for 8 against a Midlands Club selection.

India realise that if they are to get into the semi-finals in the ICC Champions Trophy they will need Virender Sehwag to fire in a big way in the next match against Pakistan.

The team, already missing the services of Sachin Tendulkar, is concerned about the poor form of the opener, who has a highest score of just 17 in his last six games.

Yuvraj, on the other hand, has looked good at times against the medium-pacers but his weakness against spin came to the fore in the last few outings. He too hasn't done well, his highest score in the last six games being 24.

The attack of the Birmingham club was so poor that team manager Gautam Dasgupta was prompted to complain.

"It is unfortunate to get such disappointing opposition for practice before the all-important game against Pakistan on Sunday," he moaned.

Under such circumstances, India would have liked nothing better than their out-of-form batsmen spend more time in the middle.

Sehwag did do that to an extent. The right-hander got 58 in 47 balls, including three sixes and seven fours. But Yuvraj, who was promoted up the order, struggled with the bat. Coming in at number three, he could only garner four runs.

India's biggest problem right now is the inability to find proper replacements for the tried and tested injured players. They do not have quality bench strength and cannot risk dropping Sehwag or Yuvraj. The best they can do at the moment is only hope that things fall into place.

One wonders where the bench strength has disappeared. Just over a year back Hemang Badani, Dinesh Mongia, S Sriram and Gautam Gambhir were contenders for a slot in the batting order. Now, it suddenly appears there are no quality batsmen.

Rohan Gavaskar and Dinesh Karthik are the major contenders for the number seven slot in India's batting order. Gavaskar strengthened his case with 51 runs while Karthik responded with 35.

But Gavaskar, realistically speaking, is not much of a batsman; neither is he much of a bowler. He is a bits and pieces player and that's not what India needs right now. Specialists are the need of the hour.

Karthik is young, but, first and foremost, he is primary role is keeping wickets.

The selectors need to get things straight. Gavaskar is certainly not the answer to India's injury problems. Just because he was with the squad for the NatWest series against England is no reason enough for his continued presence in it.

A lot of people say that if Sehwag was an Australian he would have had no place in the squad. But that's simply because the Australians would have had the right man to replace him. India, in stark contrast, don't.

From a period of plenty to sudden drought, India can thank its selectors. Or, as former India batsman Mohinder Amarnath would have said, 'a bunch of jokers' for that!