Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh - will the stars bounce back?

Also, at times, Gambhir has been overcome by the need to score quick runs, perishing early in his pursuit of them. Like Sehwag, his footwork also needs a re-look, and his tenure at Essex should help him immensely in working out the kinks in his game. If things go well for the 32-year-old, it will be a matter of time before we see him return to the Test squad.

Yuvraj Singh: Time for a comeback

Yuvraj Singh, on the other hand, has battled cancer, a bad back and indifferent form since winning the Man of the Tournament award in the 2011 World Cup. Now sporting a lean physique, the left-handed all-rounder has been working hard on his fitness – the French sojourn with Exeter seems to have worked wonders on him as well.

His athletic fielding, which seemed to have disappeared upon his increasing weight, will be one of his focus areas. Blessed with the ability to clear the fence at will and run fast between the wickets, Yuvraj’s presence in the ODI team is sorely needed, especially with the middle-order being inexperienced and shaky at best.

The Punjab dasher also brings in additional variety with his left-arm spin, and though Ravindra Jadeja has excelled in that role lately, Yuvraj can still be called upon to bowl a few tight overs. All he needs is a few good hits out in the middle, a lot of time on the field, and he should be back into the ODI and T20 fold in no time.

Time is clearly not on their side, but the so-far luckless four have received a very valuable opportunity from the selectors – perhaps Lord Ganesha’s arrival may have had something to do with it – to make a return to the national team. It remains to be seen if they will take the bait. For the greater good of Indian cricket, and for their own sake, the fans would hope that they do.