In normal circumstances Sachin Tendulkar would have surely missed the upcoming edition of the Asia Cup, starting in Bangladesh on March 11.
Either he would have been rested by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) or the master batsman would have sought another break on his own.
But the situation seems different right now and the BCCI, by selecting him in India's one-day squad for the Asia Cup, has proved that Tendulkar’s 100th international ton is also in their mind.
The master batsman will be getting at least three more chances during the course of the tournament to get to the landmark which has eluded him for very nearly a year now.
In theory he could also get more than one opportunity to do it in Australia if India advance to the final of the ongoing CB series. India’s fate depends on the result of the Australia-Sri Lanka game to be held on March 2. If the hosts continue their winning streak, India would sneak into the best of three finals.
So there’s very much a possibility of Tendulkar arriving Bangladesh with 100 international centuries under his belt instead of chasing it there. Hopefully he will not disappoint the Bangladesh fans by dropping out at the eleventh hour if he reaches the most talked about milestone in Australia.
The BCCI has dropped or, more respectfully, rested Virender Sehwag for the Asia Cup, a move which was more or less expected following his horrible batting performance in Australia.
Unlike Tendulkar, he struggled for runs throughout the tour, having looked a mere shadow of his own self. His timing alongwith the hand-eye coordination deserted him on the bouncy tracks where he had scored heavily on the earlier visits to Australia.
Sehwag’s omission created a vacancy for vice-captain and not surprisingly the job has been assigned to India’s man of the moment, Virat Kohli, who played a magnificent innings in Hobart just a day earlier. Literally he has received his reward for the momentous knock within no time.
All-rounder Yusuf Pathan, known for his rollicking stroke-play, makes a comeback in the Indian squad as does Bengal fast bowler Ashok Dinda, who was the second-highest wicket-taker in Ranji Trophy with 37 scalps in six matches.
There’s no place for the injury-prone left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan but the exclusion of Umesh Yadav, easily the fastest Indian bowler in memory looks surprising particularly when the other promising speedster Varun Aaron is still recovering from injuries.
India, having won the Asia Cup a record five times, are also the defending champions. Hosts Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are the other contestants in the event to be held from March 11 to 22. 
All the matches, to be day-night affairs, will be played at Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.
Following is the schedule of matches:
March 11: Bangladesh v Pakistan
March 13: India v Sri Lanka
March 15: Pakistan v Sri Lanka
March 16: Bangladesh v India
March 18: India v Pakistan
March 20: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka
March 22: Final
Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed and Yasir Ahmed Mohamed Elsherbiny (Egypt), Yasin Raza Merchant and Mohammad Faisal Khan (India), Hossein Vafaei Ayouri and Syed Abooyesani (Iran), Noppon Saengkham and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (Thailand), Mohammad Al Joaker and Mohammad Mustafa Shehab (UAE) alongwith two cueists from Bahrain will be competing with Pakistan’s top eight cueists Mohammad Asif, Sultan Mohammad, Mohammad Sajjad, Naveen Kumar Perwani, Abdul Sattar, Sohail Shahzad, Sharjeel Mahmood and Vishan Gir.
The Australian right-hander, famous for taking the attack to the opposition for so many years, appeared to have lost his magical touch and found it difficult to sustain the kind of consistency that made him one of the leading batsmen of the world.
There were indications that he might do it again because the tri-series also featured India. He was surely at sea and he needed far too many chances than he actually got during his brief knocks.
"He made a double-century in his last Test match and we are hoping he remains available for Test cricket, but there can be no guarantees. Ricky is going to consider his future over the next couple of days and talk it over with his family and with his manager. He's wondering whether he retires completely from ODI cricket and then of course there are the implications for Test cricket.” Inverarity was quoted as saying.
For second time in the series England let the game slip away from them after being in total control of the situation. They had lost the second Test at Abu Dhabi after being set a modest target of 145 for victory as they were bowled out for 72 in the most stunning fashion.
The England cricket stands dead and buried in the desert of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It has hit the lowest ebb with the current lot who had passion and skills to rule the world. They had done exceptionally well against all teams in the recent past, only to be laid low by a Pakistan outfit which itself had clouds of uncertainty.
England’s middle-order, with the likes of Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell, must be double-minded whether they were out of form or out of luck throughout the series. Openers Andrew Strauss and Aliastar Cook also performed below par. How often would you see all the top six batsmen flop so miserably in every outing?
Yuvraj, who was adjudged Man of the Tournament in the last year’s World Cup, having helped his team recapture the crown after 28 years will now be watching his teammates so dearly miss him in the ongoing ODI series against Australia and Sri Lanka.
"We are very lucky to know that this is a seminoma variety of germ-cell tumour which are mostly curable with therapy and moreover would be unlikely to cause any detriment to Yuvraj's career in the long term," the doctor was quoted as saying.
“The chemotherapy has been planned with the aim of ensuring Yuvraj can return to full fitness and readiness for cricket. Yuvraj should be able to start active training in about ten weeks. If I was asked: will Yuvraj Singh the person be cured, I will say very likely yes. If you ask: will we see the return of Yuvraj Singh the cricketer, I would say most likely yes and he will return with the same fervour that he had when he left. In all likelihood, he should be on the field on May 1," he added.