Only Viru could do it again

His second triple century puts him in a class apart for more reasons than the runs scored

On Friday, March 28, cricket lovers all across the world, and especially several hundred million Indians, were awestruck by Virendar Sehwag8217;s audacious triple century against South Africa at Chennai8217;s Chepauk cricket ground. The manner in which he was playing and the momentum he had built up raised expectations that he would perhaps cross Brian Lara8217;s record of 400 runs in Test cricket. Alas, that was not to be, because soon after resumption of play the next morning Sehwag lost his wicket at 319 runs, causing a stunned silence in the packed stadium at Chepauk. But even as he walked off the ground to the thunderous applause that broke out, he had already set a record with the fastest triple hundred in Tests off only 278 balls, silencing his critics convincingly that the old Virendar Sehwag, whose prowess left all of India enthralled in the past, is very much around.

Sehwag8217;s career in the last couple of years has encountered a rocky path. By his own admission, 8220;When I got dropped from the side, it hurt me a lot.8221; For a player with his gift and abilities, this was the major motivation to prove himself yet again. 8220;In a way it did better for me, I wanted to prove to myself that I belonged, that I am a better Test player than people think. I wanted to get my place back. I concentrated and motivated myself to make big scores. If one has to be in the team, one has to prove oneself.8221; This statement provides an indicator of the man8217;s inner resolve.

Virendar Sehwag8217;s strength stems from his feeling of self-belief. He obviously has unwavering faith in himself and his brand of cricket. All the while he was going through a drought of runs, several critics called him irresponsible in getting out to extravagant shots. But Sehwag never deviated from his extravagant style and reliance on aggressive strokeplay every time he took the crease, irrespective of the situation the team was facing. Umpire David Shepherd was right when he commented, 8220;He plays such a high-risk game that there is always a chance of him getting out quickly.8221; But, while Sehwag takes enormous risks in his batting, he is certainly not reckless and his technique is intrinsically sound. In his Chepauk triple hundred itself his runs came from a variety of cuts, pulls, drives, reverse sweeps, gentle tapping of the ball to third man and, of course, his favourite upper cut.

As long as Sehwag is at the crease he must totally demoralise the fielding side, and leave the bowler with very few choices on where or what to bowl. Indian bowlers in the past have, for instance, dreaded the assault on them that Shahid Afridi was known for. But, overall Sehwag is technically a far superior batsman and, in terms of the ability to handle any type of bowling, equally devastating. His reliability as a player, including the lean spell he has been through in the last couple of years, is revealed by his batting statistics. He has played so far a total of 55 Test matches and batted in 92 innings, with a total score of 4760 runs and an average of 53.48. In this impressive display he has hit 684 boundaries and 49 sixes. Corresponding figures for one-day internationals include 183 matches, 178 innings, in which he has batted with a total of 5312 runs and an average of 31.06, with 728 boundaries and 75 sixes. He has hit 14 centuries in Tests and seven in ODIs.

The Chepauk performance should help rebuild Sehwag8217;s self-confidence and restore his belief in his own talents. Of all the outstanding batsmen who have performed at the international level with such elan in recent years, he displays the most uncanny coordination between limbs and eyes. If this were not so, he would not have been able to get in the middle of the bat a ball spinning with the variation of Shane Warne or with the deadly swing at 90 mph from Shoaib Akhtar or Brett Lee. His sense of timing is uncanny, resulting in shots executed effortlessly racing to the boundary or sailing over the ropes.

While Sehwag8217;s rebound is perhaps driven by a sense of deep hurt at not being included in several matches recently, the national selectors and captains of the Indian teams, particularly M.S. Dhoni, must acknowledge Sehwag8217;s worth by including him in both ODIs and Test matches. It defies logic that Dhoni persevered in Australia with an out of form and injured Yuvraj Singh, keeping Sehwag seated on the bench. Viru was in good form in Australia, requiring just one or two innings to prove his worth, and he is certainly a much better bowler than Yuvraj. In fact, over the years he has shown remarkable control with his off-spin and an ability to outwit many a batsman. Yet, he has remained under-utilised in this department of the game.

Sehwag has many years at the pinnacle of international cricket ahead of him, and who knows, he may someday overhaul Lara8217;s record of 400 runs. If there is any player equipped in terms of talent, determination and physical fitness to achieve such a feat it is Virendar Sehwag. But for the present we must celebrate his 319 runs at Chepauk and salute him for reaching 300 runs in Test cricket with the lowest number of balls. 1

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The writer is chairperson of the IPCC, which shared last year8217;s Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore

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