A perfect clone?

Here is one clone on whom no ethical debate has found takers. Najafgarh ka Tendulkar he may be to some, but after two years of international...

Here is one clone on whom no ethical debate has found takers. Najafgarh ka Tendulkar he may be to some, but after two years of international cricket Virender Sehwag has managed to carve a niche for himself. Traces of the Mumbai maestro’s style are omnipresent, but Sehwag is very much his own man today, and is writing his own destiny.

The effortless ease with which he has pummeled the likes of Darren Gough, Allan Donald and co at different points in his career is proof enough of his ability. So much so, that when India starts its campaign in the upcoming World Cup, a lot of eyes will be on Sehwag to give India the much-needed foundation that was Tendulkar’s by right till not-so-long back.

DID YOU KNOW?

• Debut one-day match against Pakistan (Mohali, 1998-99) was a disaster, as he scored just a single and gave away 35 runs from his three overs.
• His first one-day century (against New Zealand August 2000), that too as an opener, was the sixth fastest in the history of one-day cricket (off 68 balls)
• Became the seventh Indian to score a century on Test debut when he hit 105 in November 2001 against South Africa
• In the very second Test he played was dragged into a controversy, being banned by match-referee Mike Denness for excessive appealing along with five other Indians, including captain Saurav Ganguly.

But this has not been the case always. Not when he, as a raw 19-year-old, had an eminently forgettable debut against Pakistan in 1999 and was banished into wilderness for two years. But when he came back, it was with a bang. And the reverberations are still going on. Like many an Indian ‘superstar in the making’, injuries and controversies have also dogged him in his short career. But he has come out of them in his own inimitable style — by blazing his way to glory.

It is only a tribute to his talent that while the current national pastime is to debate Tendulkar’s batting slot in one-dayers, there is absolute unanimity that ‘Viru has to open’. Maybe the secret is in the four glasses of milk he puts away everyday. Maybe it’s somewhere else. But there’s every chance that Viru has the ability and the form to make the 2003 World Cup his own.

HEAD TO HEAD

AUSTRALIA: Has played the might of Aussies just once and yet has come on top with a Man of the Match award winning performance in 2000-01. Since then though, he has imrpoved by leaps and bounds, and this would not have been lost on Ponting and his men. McGrath would be a threat, for he has the ability to tie down the best of batsmen with his pinpoint accuracy. Others like Lee and Gillespie work around McGrath, so Sehwag has to first cage the ’Pigeon’ and look ahead.

PAKISTAN: Shoaib Akhtar packed him off from international cricket for two years and that memory still lingers. But that was 1999 and Sehwag was raw. Cut to circa 2003; the sting in the Pakistan bowling remains intact with the wily veterans Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram bowling with the new ball followed by Akhtar. Akram needs a lot of watching for he will surely test him out early on with his movement.

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ENGLAND: Two good series against the Englishmen (home & away) should give him confidence. Unlike the other attacks in the pool, the Englishmen have a workmanlike approach. Andrew Caddick will be the lynchpin and once he is taken care of, the rest of the bits and pieces will fall to pieces on a cold Durban night.

ZIMBABWE: Heath Steak is the major threat. With a partisan crowd egging him on Streak should be pumped up to be at his best against Sehwag. Another contest that could be interesting could be the Sehwag-Olonga match-up. Olonga has had many a battle with Tendulkar, so maybe this would be just an extension of that.