Page 185 - IPL1

F
ew batsmen have opened the innings with such
swashbuckling success in both Tests and one-dayers as Virender
Sehwag. In physical appearance and style of play, he reminds
many of Sachin Tendulkar, but Sehwag plays like a Tendulkar
less burdened by responsibility, a glorious risk- taker who, when
set, can tear even the best bowling attacks to shreds. The spirit
of Twenty20 was in Sehwag’s game before anyone dreamed of
the format – and so it proved during the Indian Premier League.
Those who have witnessed Sehwag’s rampages do not forget
them in a hurry. He failed by one run to join a select band of
those who have scored centuries in the first sessions of a Test.
He has to his name two of the fastest double-centuries ever
scored in Tests (one of which he converted into a triple). And he
has scored a clutch of one-day hundreds at faster than a run per
ball, including one off 69 deliveries that is the second-fastest
ever for India. Twin strike-rates of 74.9 in Tests and 96.5 in ODIs
put him in Adam Gilchrist’s class as a speed merchant.
But more so than Gilchrist, or any other really fast scorer in
the modern game, Sehwag has shown a capacity to go on and
make really big scores. In fact, his last nine Test centuries have
all topped 150, a unique feat. Sehwag’s critics might accuse
him of being a flat-track bully, and his aggressive shotmaking is
certainly more likely to prosper on new pitches than old, which
perhaps explains the discrepancy between his first and second
innings average in Tests (64 as against 29).
For a long time, India were happy to accept the lows with the
spectacular highs. Then, in 2007, Sehwag fell out of favour
following a slump in form and spent most of the year out of
the team. However, it was decided that India still could not do
without him for the ICC World Cup or ICC World Twenty20. He
played his part in the Twenty20 triumph, softening up England
ahead of Yuvraj Singh’s blistering assault with 68 from 52 balls,
but missed out on the final against Pakistan.
He was recalled to the Test XI early in 2008. Drafted in as a
replacement for the out-of-form Yuvraj for the third and fourth
Tests in Australia after India had gone 2-0 down, he played a
vital part in Australia’s winning streak ending in Perth - as much
with his off-spin as with the bat - and India salvaging a draw in
Adelaide. There, his 151 was the first of his 13 Test centuries to
come in the second innings.
In March 2008 Sehwag created history by beating his own record
for the highest ever score by an Indian in Test matches, with his
phenomenal 319 in the first Test against South Africa. At a rate
of better than a run a ball, this was by some distance the fastest
triple century in Test cricket.
The son of a grain merchant from Haryana, Sehwag has been
passionate about cricket all his life. Given his first toy bat before
his first birthday, he had set his heart on becoming a professional
cricketer long before leaving school. His father briefly tried to
stop him from playing after he lost a tooth aged 11, but with
his mother’s help he circumvented the ban. It did not take him
long to prove that he did indeed have a future, scoring a maiden
international hundred off 69 balls at the age of 22 before adding
a century on Test debut in South Africa three months later.
At 29, his best years should be ahead of him, and his performances
as captain of Delhi Daredevils did little to discourage the notion.
Rare was the game in which Sehwag did not at some stage clear
the rope with that trademark clean-hitting – in all, he launched
21 sixes in 14 innings, to go with 46 fours – and a marker was laid
down as early as Delhi’s second match, when Sehwag carved
his way to 94 not out off 41 balls against Deccan Chargers in
Hyderabad, hitting 30 runs alone in one spectacular over from
Andrew Symonds.
After that, the opposition were just relieved if Sehwag made less
than 20, and although he failed to reach three figures, he more
often than not gave his side a jet-propelled start. An innings of
71 off 41 helped sink Chennai Super Kings at the Chidambaram
Stadium with an over to spare.
Not only did Sehwag lead his side to the semi-finals, where for
once he failed in a heavy defeat to Rajasthan Royals, but he
scored his 406 runs at a higher strike-rate than anyone else who
made more than 200 in the tournament. Yes, Twenty20 cricket
really did seem to have been invented with Sehwag in mind.
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