Sir — In Cellular Jail, now a national memorial, a cell has been specially identified as that occupied by V.D. Savarkar with a plaque listing the sacrifices of the revolutionary installed. But there were hundreds of other freedom fighters incarcerated in that prison. Many of them, such as Ullaskar Dutt, Barindranath Ghosh and Batukeshwar Dutt, suffered as much as Savarkar. Authorities should try to identify as many cells as possible of the unsung heroes of our freedom movement and install memorial plaques. Perhaps this will sensitize visitors at the memorial to the enormity of their sacrifices.

Kunal Kanti Konar,

Calcutta

Lesson in humility

Sir — India’s pride, the world’s No. 1 batsman and the captain of the star-studded men’s cricket team, Virat Kohli, has set an unenviable record by becoming the first Indian skipper to oversee a 10-wicket defeat against Australia in one-day international cricket. Kudos to Australia, not just for their record-breaking win but also for blowing what is arguably India’s best-ever bowling line-up to smithereens in less than 38 overs. Between them, the Aussie captain, Aaron Finch, and David Warner set the Wankhede stadium on fire with their boundaries, winning the match against India without losing a wicket.

Although in the recent past India has been on a winning spree against Afghanistan, Bangladesh, West Indies and Sri Lanka, the mighty Australia has humiliated the Men in Blue miserably. This was also India’s fourth successive loss to Australia in ODIs at home; who can forget that 10 months ago Finch’s men had overturned a 2-0 deficit to win a 5-match series 3-2 in India? The main reasons for India’s defeat were Rohit Sharma’s early departure, the failure of Virat Kohli’s experiment of batting at No. 4 and the usual collapse of India’s middle order.

But one must not forget that cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties. Hence, even though India was mercilessly beaten by the Aussies in the first ODI, cricket lovers expect that India will recover and in the next two ODIs will turn the tide in its favour.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee,

Faridabad

Sir — The way in which Australia snatched a 10-wicket victory against India in the first ODI was fantastic. India started well with the assertiveness of Shikhar Dhawan, but the devastating bowling of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins restricted India to 255 runs. The failure of middle-order batsmen stood in the way of India’s win. Further, the Indian bowling unit, too, was unable to crack the partnership between Aaron Finch and David Warner.

But the Indian captain, Virat Kohli, is very pragmatic. I am sure he has alerted the team that the fight against Australia is difficult and vital. One hopes that Team India will come back with strong performances in the remaining matches.

Jayanta Datta,

Hooghly

Sir — Congratulations to the Australian cricket team for their emphatic win against the much-hyped Men in Blue. With this they have gone one up in the three-match ODI series. When the Indian side caved in for just 255 runs, that too in 49 overs, the end result was a foregone conclusion. However, fans of Indian cricket could not have imagined that the bowlers, who always win matches for the team, will also end up in a total failure. They were hit all over the ground by David Warner and Aaron Finch, who put up a stunning opening partnership to win the match by 10 wickets.

This should serve as a wake-up call for our coach and the captain, who seemed to be dwelling on cloud nine after their easy victories against South Africa, Bangladesh, West Indies, and Sri Lanka. Now they should realize that not only can Team India not rest on its laurels, but also that the chosen 15 are not the best that the country has to offer when it comes to contending with teams like Australia, New Zealand, England and even Pakistan in the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia. Some players in the team are pampered without any reason. It is time to show them the door and to select the best performing players available in the country. Is the Board of Control for Cricket in India listening?

Vinay Mahadevan,

Chennai