Sydney: No one in the team will say it but they are all surely thinking it. If you are a player who has been around for a while, non-performance is like a crown of thorns.

You have seen it claim careers before. And for a junior, it represents an opportunity.

This Australia tour has given us a glimpse of both sides of the coin. But the sight of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, the most senior and respected batters struggling and failing over and over again, was tough to digest. At one level, it made fans wonder why are they still around, and that thought was a fair reflection of their recent form.

India skipper Rohit, who sat himself out of the Sydney Test, made 31 runs at an average of 6.20 in the series. Kohli, on the other hand, made 190 runs at an average of 23.75. Both averaged well below what their standing in world cricket would suggest and their inability to get among the runs was among the main reasons for India's failure to defend the Border Gavaskar Trophy, the Aussies claiming it with a 3-1 series win.

Rohit, at 37, has already said Test retirement is not on his mind. Kohli, 36, has not even mentioned it in public. That is very much their personal choice. The decision the selectors make may be different from theirs. At some point, India will have to move on.

A big input to the selectors will come from India head coach Gautam Gambhir. He observes the two in the dressing room, watches them in the nets and discusses the game with them. So much of the professional game is about ability, but ability without the right attitude is nothing.

"I can't talk about the future of any player," Gambhir said at the press conference at the SCG after the series. "It's up to them as well. But yes, what I can say is that they still have the hunger. They still have the passion. They're tough people. And hopefully they can continue to take Indian cricket forward. But ultimately, as we all know, whatever they plan, they will plan for the best interest of Indian cricket."

The best interest of Indian cricket cannot be the players' responsibility alone. There is enough young talent around but they too must be given time to find their feet in international cricket. The step up into international cricket, especially the red-ball format, is a big one.

So, poor results initially will have been factored into the equation. They should not be a reason to keep going back to the seniors. But first, Gambhir would like to see how hungry the seniors are. Do they still have something to prove?

"First of all, every individual knows where their game and hunger is," said Gambhir. "That's the most important thing for any sport, and any profession. It's not just about the sport."

This is a phase Gambhir knows well. He himself had struggled to get back into the team after losing judgement of where his off-stump was. He went back to domestic cricket and tried to fight his way back into the team, but was never quite the same.

"It's about how hungry you are, how passionate you are, and whether the team is moving forward with your contribution or not. Because ultimately, it's neither my team nor yours, it's the country's team. I believe, as I said, there are very honest players in our dressing room who know how hungry they are."

Gambhir, though, doesn't just want to merely focus on the big stars.

"My biggest responsibility is that I have to be fair to everyone in that room. Not only one or two individuals. If I'm fair to only two or three individuals, and not to everyone else, then I'm being dishonest to my job. So, whether it's a player who hasn't debuted, or a player who has played 100 Tests, my simple goal in my job is that I have to be absolutely fair and equal to everyone," said Gambhir.

Future plans

India's next major Test assignment will be against England away in June. That gives the selectors and the seniors time to make up their mind. It will, of course, depend on performance.

"Look, it's too early to talk about it," said Gambhir. "The series has just got over. We still have five more months to plan where we want to head. It's not the right moment right now for me to talk about that. Where are we going to be after five months?

"A lot of things change in sport. Form changes. People change. Attitudes change. Everything changes in sport. And we all know that five months is a long time. So, let's see before the (England) series what's going to happen. But whatever will happen, will happen for the best interest of Indian cricket."