Virender Sehwag is one of the few cricketers who have generated polarized opinions about them. For some fans he is the best entertainer in the world, for some critics he is a brainless cricketer who throws his wicket more often that not.After the famous Kolkata win against Australia after a follow on , the world was expecting India to dominate the world cricket but inconsistencies were far more in their performance as they struggled against Zimbabwe to draw a series exactly after the series win over Australia . The major issues which peeped out were weak fast bowling & bad openers. The new Team India under Sourav Ganguly demanded new stars .
Soon he was pushed to the test team . During the 2001-02 tour of South Africa,in of the most testing conditions in bouncy wickets of South Africa , when the team was tottering at 68/4, a medium build cricketer having a lot of resemblance with his idol Sachin came out in the middle & matched stroke by stroke with the master blaster . In no time , he not only amassed a swashbuckling & stroke filled century on his test debut but also amassed 220 runs with Tendulkar in mere 47.2 overs. A new star was born and the test cricket was about to face a paradigm shift.
To the purists of the game , he lacked striking footwork of Lara or Sachin, but to the crowds he was an entertainer. Some critics ridiculed him of his lack of proper technique. But sometimes the word technique is slightly overrated in cricket as it is more of a mental game & great players have evolved as legends with mental toughness and Sehwag was brimming with self confidence about his game. Two years later on a damp Melborne pitch he scored 195 runs before tea against the Australian attacked headed by Brett Lee. That was just a confirmation that the century on test debut was not a fluke.In little less than 6 months time, he achieved which none other Indian cricketer could achieve in 70 years of Indian cricket by scoring a triple century. A belligerent & a behemoth inning against a Pakistani attack boasting of Shoaib Akhtar,Mohammad Sami, Abdul Razzaq & Saqlain Mushtaq. He thrashed each & every bowler with utter disdain. It is said that , that inning ended the career of the great Saqlain Mustaq. Test cricket was changed in India.
Now teams used to think twice before setting a target against India as she had a real game changer in Sehwag. His contributions to Indian cricket have been immense. There are many people who switch off their television set when Sehwag is out , as test cricket appears very monotonous & dull without him . The number of results in test cricket came since his inception into Indian test team cannot be overlooked.
Apart from these positives , there are many thing which are very frustrating to a big fan of Sehwag like me. Sachin Tendulkar played consecutive 84 tests, Rahul Dravid 93 , but Sehwag has been unfit n number of times. In spite of the amazing hand eye coordination, a gift of relentless boundary hitting, he has been pretty lazy to his fitness. In the last 3-4 years he has missed the tours quiet often. Apart from that , his strike rate has increased & average dipped , which just indicates he has taken all things too lightly.
Even though he has killed hopes million time with his reckless shot making. But he has also brought smile in the face of billion Indians through some amazing innings. To maintain a strike rate of 80 plus with an average of 50 in Test cricket is not a joke.
I wish all the best to the legend Mr Virender Sehwag forthe future & thanks for the unlmited joy bestowed upon us cricket lovers.
A Big Viru Fan
