The big problem comes down to how spectacularly the guys are failing. Marsh and now it looks like Hughes have had absolute shockers at 3 to the point the selectors have no choice but to drop them. Watson and Khawaja would be the two guys that most likely wouldn't have those patches and hence could be maintained in that spot. If anything we should have gone on with Watson at 3.
Hughes is an aggravating case since anyone that has seen him at state level knows that he's been far from his best in the test arena. Now that he's broken into the ODI side, he might benefit from touring with the team regularly and getting more exposure to international attacks rather than just piling on shield runs. Even though he's been a career opener, I think he can settle in at 3 if given the time.
If having to face an onslaught of quality spin from the outset really is an issue, then he's pretty much experienced the worst of it now and hopefully he's better for it. It was only a couple of tests afterall, so perhaps it was just a rare bad run that even the best are prone to. I mainly wanted to see Khawaja get a go, but this latest Clarke injury might result in both Hughes and Khawaja playing the 4th test anyway.
As for Khawaja I think he should've been given a shot at 3 for the tour of Sri Lanka. While Marsh was coming off two good shield seasons, Khawaja's been the better batsman over a long period and has had to compete with guys like Hughes, Warner, Cowan, Katich, Jaques etc. just for a place in the NSW side. Marsh paid off big at the time and I can't really complain about him being retained, but Khawaja was pretty hard done by being stuck down at 6 for a couple of tests before being dropped, while Marsh was able to occupy the preferred 3, with or without Ponting there.
While that opportunity was lost, another presented itself when India arrived. Marsh was still recovering from his injury sustained in South Africa, so much so that he couldn't play in the tour matches where Khawaja scored 25 and 56* against the Indian test attack. It was still unclear whether Marsh was even fit on the day of the first test, yet somehow he managed to reclaim his spot, and not only that, but hold onto it for all four tests while looking even more out of sorts than Hughes has recently. Had Khawaja been given the chance that he deserved, then it could've created an interesting dilemma for the WI tour with Watson returning.
If that wasn't enough, then they throw Rob bloody Quiney in out of nowhere. Nevermind that Khawaja played his part in the record chase victory against Saf, for some reason he and Hughes needed to be protected from them. No wonder he's developed a bit of an attitude towards management and couldn't be arsed doing his homework. Can't help but feel that the Marsh name has been the biggest factor in some of those earlier selections.
If he is out of next test, Rahane is surely making debut 
