For every problem, Sehwag146;s got a simple solution

How does Virender Sehwag approach a bowler who had him stumped on the second ball he had faced from...

Q: How does Virender Sehwag approach a bowler who had him stumped on the second ball he had faced from him?

A: He waits five balls before dancing down the track and sends him sailing over the ropes for six.

In the first Test at Colombo, Sehwag didn8217;t face Ajantha Mendis, which meant that the Indian opener8217;s only first-hand experience before this was confined to the two deliveries he faced during the Asia Cup final. In Karachi, he had misjudged the flight going for a big one, and that kind of thing preys on the minds of most batsmen.

But Sehwag, as he has shown time and again, isn8217;t too much like most batsmen. The defining moment of his 122-ball 128 on Thursday was the six he hit in the Lankan mystery spinner8217;s second over of the day.

Former Sri Lankan opener Sidath Wettimuny watched the Indian opener end the first session on 91 and spoke about his uncomplicated style. 8220;What8217;s best about him, besides his exceptional eyesight, is that he thinks quite straight. If he sees a ball that can be hit, he hits it. He lets the ball decide his stroke and not the other way round.

8220;At times, you wish that he could control himself a bit. But then, you wouldn8217;t see blistering 300s if he didn8217;t have this attitude,8221; said the 51-year-old, who scored Sri Lanka8217;s first Test ton.

When Sehwag was asked whether he even thought about slowing down as wickets tumbled at the other end, he answered with a couple of questions of his own. 8220;How can I stop? If you don8217;t play shots, how will you score runs?8221;

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Besides the six off Mendis, there was a boundary off Kulasekara that proved how Sehwag believes in deleting all old files before taking field. In the first innings at the SSC, Sehwag was out pulling a ball on the off-sump 8212; a shot that triggered comments about 8216;irresponsible8217; cricket. Today, Kulasekara tried the same trick again, but this time the ball, instead of ballooning to deep square-leg, crossed the mid-wicket fence rolling all along the ground.

Wettimuny smiled when reminded of the two deliveries. 8220;That8217;s always the case with players such as Sehwag or Sanath Jayasuriya. Sehwag is actually a right-handed Jayasuriya.8221;

Sehwag had his own explanation about how he handled Mendis today. While there has been a lot of talk about the need to read him from the hand, the Indian opener said it was easier to read the bowler off the pitch. Uncomplicated men do have simple explanations for some of life8217;s seemingly deep mysteries.