Is the match referee -Chris Broad- actually an Indian fan trying to force Ganguly out the team? May he thought the selectors aren't able to do that and just used his power. This may be a time for a break for Ganguly looking at his current form but overall he doesn't deserve to go like this. Looking at what happened to Tendulkar's form and the brief showing Dravid has done whenever he did that role, Ganguly deserves a chance to be in the team as a batsman.
This is the third time out of four the team hasn't been able to convert a Tendulkar century into a win against Pakistan. His first one was in 1996 at Singapore. It wasn't much explosive by his 1996 standards and India lost because others didn't contribute much. In the same year Tendulkar scored another 100 at Sharjah and was part of a big partnership with Sidhu and India won that game. Then again last year while chasing 317 Tendulkar scored 141 and got out when the team score was 248. But the batting collapsed thereafter.
Some interesting statistics about that second hundred of Tendulkar against Pak in Sharjah. India scored their first 300+ total in one-days in that game. So in nearly 25 years of India's one-day history prior to that match they never had gone past 300. Funnily, India had reached 299 previously in a 40 over game but never went beyond that in 50, 55 or even 60 over matches. After that match, in seven years India has done that 30 times. That's a reflection of how strong the batting has been.
Now the predictions for the remaining two games are hard to make because India has lost the momentum and on placid tracks they can't feel secure with any score under 350. At the same time, now having come back into the series, Pakistan are equally vulnerable to the complacency and are prone to slipping from here. I think both the teams share the same lack of instinct when it comes to the final push. If Ganguly doesn't play the fifth game - he is allowed to play that - then Dravid will take over. It will induce fresh ideas and confidence and the series may take a turn again. I certainly hope for that. Playing five bowlers may be a good idea to avoid the middle overs onslaught. Also, sending Kaif ahead of Yuvraj if the wickets fall early might help stabilize the batting before the slog overs.
Can Tendulkar contribute again? Historucally, his scores in the game after a century aren't very impressive. Only 8 out of his 38 centuries have been followed by a 50+ score and only once has he scored back to back centuries. There has been lull at the other end with Sehwag getting out cheaply and I think a storm will follow. Yuvraj and Kaif haven't made huge scores lately and those will also be looking for it. Overall batting wise it looks promising. Whether bowlers can keep focus on such hostile tracks is a big question. Agarkar's record against Pak hasn't been remarkable, so I would imagine Nehra, Zaheer and Bajali to be there with Kumble and hopefully a real fifth bowler.