Opening question remains wide open

India have tried 22 different variations for the opening slot in the last seven years and mostly the change has been at the other end to partner Virender Sehwag. The latest to join the band wagaon was Wasim Jaffer, returning to duty as the only opener to make a comeback twice since 2000 after being dropped. The Mumbai batsman propelled himself to fulfill his long-standing 8216;8216;dream8217;8217; of scoring a Test hundred. On Saturday, the precious 100th run8212;though it came in the scariest way possible8212;8216;8216;delighted8217;8217; the stylish right-hander to no end.

This story, though, isn8217;t about Jaffer. Nor is it about the 18 other openers India have tried in 22 different combinations over the last few years. It is about Sehwag, who has scored 42 runs in the last four innings, following the double hundred against Pakistan at Lahore. Before that in 2005, nine of Sehwag8217;s innings had just one half century and it came against Australia while playing for ICC XI. Almost a year ago, in March 2005, Sehwag had scored another double-hundred, against Pakistan, a knock that remained under the shadow of Younis Khan8217;s blitzkrieg in the first innings then. In his two knocks at Nagpur, Sehwag fell to a well-devised England plan. In the first innings, he was lured into a drive that went straight to Kevin Pietersen at short covers. In the second, Hoggard again dismissed the opener with a delivery that went through the gate. The opener had scores of two and zero in the match.

In all of Sehwag8217;s failures to get going at times when the need was on, captain Rahul Dravid has provided the standard explanation: 8216;8216;He8217;s the sort of a batsman who plays that way. There8217;ll be times when Viru will play the most important innings that may win us the game. And there are times when it8217;s a bad day.8217;8217;

No doubt, Sehwag is an explosive batsman but his last match-winning knock came during India8217;s tour of Pakistan in 2004 309 should be a worrying thought for Dravid. From that Test to the Nagpur one, Sehwag has had five centuries but none of them contributed to an Indian victory.

Sehwag is the only senior batsman other than the captain himself who looks capable of getting huge scores and, more importantly, he opens India8217;s batting. When he gets out cheaply, it invariably results in India losing the Test match.

The fact that Greg Chappell has been working on this valuable opener is evident, particularly after Sehwag has lost weight recently and looks fitter than ever before. But it is time the only triple-centurion from India, whose reputation instills fear in the minds of any bowling attack, showed some consistency.