The predominant tone of India's tour of South Africa so far has been ... panic. India lost their first one-dayer, against South Africa, and -- alarmed by the wayward bowling of their pacemen -- immediately sent out an SOS for Zaheer Khan. The selectors, who had ruled him out just a few days previously on fitness grounds, refused to send him.

Then India were spanked by Kenya in their fourth match, by the whacking margin of 70 runs. The batting displayed a distinct lack of backbone, and the management decided to send for some spinal steel in the form of VVS Laxman.

The argument for this is flawless. Laxman is a key player in the middle order, a potential matchwinner every time he goes out to the middle. He's fit again, and he's in form, as an excellent century in the recent Irani Trophy match confirms. And finally, getting him to South Africa early will help him acclimatise before the Tests start.

But what does this move say about the management's faith in the players who are out there already? Sourav Ganguly's desperation for Zaheer could only have sent one message to the four pace bowlers in South Africa -- that they were inadequate.

Similarly Jacob Martin and Shiv Sunder Das, who had been contesting the No. 3 spot in the team, will now find themselves fighting for the honour of taking out the drinks. Nothing wrong about that; cricket at the top level should be cut-throat, and only the fittest should wear the national colours. But what is worrying is the Indian tendency to look for external reasons for their inadequacies, rather than internal ones.

India did not lose to South Africa at Jo'burg because Zaheer Khan wasn't there. And their whipping by the Kenyans at Port Elizabeth was not down to Laxman's absence. Those defeats can be attributed to factors endemic to the Indian team as a whole: lack of discipline, an inability to handle pressure, and a befuddling complacency against weaker teams, as happened in the second Kenya game.

Those problems are inherent in the Indian team, with or without Zaheer and Laxman. One has to wonder whether the Indians are choosing to ignore these things, and are clutching at straws. So will they call on Ajay Ratra now, if Deep Dasgupta drops a couple behind the stumps? Or give the gloves to Rahul Dravid after another batting collapse, to squeeze an extra batsman in?

How much longer can India afford to treat the symptoms, not the disease?

Amit Varma is assistant editor of Wisden.com India.

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