Indians get 5-star treatment in Wisden

SEHWAG

It was the year Sehwag forged his own identity. No longer was he just a Tendulkar doppleganger. Though a year older, Sehwag was not necessarily a year wiser and he continued to open the innings the only way he knows how. His style of batting was exhilarating when it came off but with hits came the inevitable misses, most notably during an underwhelming World Cup. Two breathtaking innings stood out — a match-winning 112 in a one-dayer in Auckland when no other Indian reached 25 and a glorious 195 on Boxing Day at Melbourne. For its relentless risk-taking mass devastation and pure unbridled talent, this was Sehwag at his most definitive.

TENDULKAR

In whites, an annus horribilis, in pyjamas mirabilis, it was hard to know which was greater. Tendulkar was the player of the World Cup in South Africa, his genius in full unfettered glory displaying all the colours of the cricketing rainbow, his assault on Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar in India’s crunch match against Pakistan acquired immediate fame in his homeland. If his failures in the final stimulated the begrudgers’ juices, his test match form drove them to distraction.

DRAVID

Just when it looked like The Wall could not scale any greater heights after a run-laden 2002, Dravid took his batting to another level. It is not easy to stand out in the Indian top six but Dravid began India’s unusually light Test year with 222 and 73 against new zealand at Ahmedabad and finished with a man-of-the-series performance in Australia, where his tally of 305 for once out at Adelaide was one of the all-time great performances.

LAXMAN

At the start of the year, VVS Laxman was not good enough for India’s World Cup squad; by the end, as he tormented Australia once more, he was one of the richest, purest sights in world cricket. Brought back into the fold in October, Laxman meant business from the off: two unbeaten, unusually disciplined innings saved the Mohali Test against New Zealand, then a beautiful 148 at Adelaide helped win one in sensational circumstances.

KUMBLE

Kumble spent most of the time in the shadow of Harbhajan, he hardly featured in India’s run to the World Cup final. And his career seemed to be winding down gently. But Harbhajan lost form, got injured and, by the end of 2003, Kumble was India’s supersub, gunning down the Australians by the dozen and getting the respect that had been absent for much of his 14 years in international cricket.

(PTI)