Top gun

To describe him either leaves one with cliches or stuck for words. So that habitual wordsmith Harsha Bhogle comes up with something different. 8216;8216;In India8217;s batting order, he8217;s the discriminant variable8217;8217;, says Bhogle, borrowing a term from statistics to denote the part of an equation that decides the value of the rest of the components. 8216;8216;He is dictating how India bats; if Sehwag fails, India fails. If Sehwag scores, he gives India a better chance of doing well.8217;8217;

In the past few months, as India8217;s star cast has performed in fits and starts, as even Rahul Dravid has hit a lean patch, it8217;s Sehwag 8212; with that cockiness that infuriates the purists 8212; who8217;s kept the ship moving. He has defied most of the stereotypes; his triple-century was breathtaking as much for the artistry as for the sheer audacity that it was Sehwag, of all people, who got there first.

In retrospect, though, we should have seen it coming.

It8217;s difficult, if not impossible, to get into Sehwag8217;s mind and find out what makes him tick. We8217;ve done the next best thing: We8217;ve looked at the four factors which, in combination, make him unique to Team India. Others may share one or two traits; no one has all.
Stats by Pervez S Qaiser

VERSATILITY
Technique-wise he is the most balanced cricketer I8217;ve ever seen in my life. That8217;s why he is comfortable on any surface anywhere in the world.
8211; Arun Lal

The slow low pitches of the sub-continent, the chin-music tracks Down Under and in South Africa, the banana-swing conditions in England 8212; Sehwag has delivered on all surfaces. In a game where players are obsessed with pitch conditions and curators can pose a bigger threat than the bowlers, Sehwag just shrugs his shoulders and goes out to bat. On the eve of the Kanpur Test, as the players crowded over the pitch, Sehwag was asked for his take on the 22 yards. 8216;8216;I8217;ll tell you when I bat,8217;8217; he said.

The key, says former India coach Anshuman Gaekwad, is his brilliant hand-to-eye coordination which renders surface tension irrelevant. Whether the ball decides to suddenly take off or darts around, Sehwag has enough reaction time. Indeed, says Gaekwad, Sehwag8217;s most discussed technical flaw could be a factor in his success abroad. 8216;8216;At home one always plays on the front foot, in the West Indies and Australia it is all backfoot. Since Sehwag rarely uses his feet, he just stands and delivers.8217;8217;

THE FACT
Sehwag has eight Test centuries. Half are at home, half abroad.He8217;s scored a triple century at Multan, 195 at Melbourne and centuries at Bloemfontein and Trent Bridge.
AVERAGE: 53.81 at home and 53.12 away.

CONSISTENCY
He8217;s consistent because he brings his bat straight down, rarely plays across the line. He has a great temperament and never gets bogged down by names.
8211; Brijesh Patel

There8217;s no point having a 70-plus strike rate if you can8217;t play the big innings. And Sehwag has done just that, with a century in seven of the last eight Test series, home and away. His 2512 runs from 29 Tests makes him the quickest Indian batsman to cross the 2500 mark.

Much of his consistency is due to his judicious shot-selection. He can be impetuous but, increasingly, he is more shrewd, his sequence of strokes influenced by the quality of ball.

At one point during his rampage in Kanpur, Graeme Smith set up a heavy legside field. The response: a reverse sweep, an inside out shot over covers and a lofted shot over long on. He duly completed his century.

Gaekwad says things can be improved. 8216;8216;The only correction he needs is the use of his feet. If he8217;s now scoring in two innings out of five, he can, with some adjustment, score in 3 out of 5. That8217;s about 2000 runs in a year.8217;8217;

THE FACT
His average in the last five series 87.33 SA at home; 42.71 Australia at home; 109 Pakistan away; 58 Australia away, 44 New Zealand at home.
His average for the past three years 2002: 39.81; 2003: 52.20; 2004: 69.87

SPEED

During my playing days a strike rate of 50 plus for a Test opener was supposed to be great. Sehwag and Hayden just walked in and raised the bar.
8211; Michael Slater

Only partially true, says Abbas Ali Baig. 8216;8216;Sehwag is in a different league. Hayden uses brute force and has a big, prominent swing. Sehwag is all wrist and punch.8217;8217; In a nutshell, Sehwag adds style to his strike rate. Add the runs to this style and the package is complete.

So how does this matter? In two ways. One, as Arun Lal says, the pace of modern cricket means only a player who scores quickly can score big. The really big scorers of late 8212; Lara, Hayden, Sehwag 8212; have a high strike rate. 8216;8216;Gone are the days when one can hang around for days to compile a big innings. Today the bowlers are smart so time at the crease is cut short8217;8217;, says Lal.

Second, it helps the team by putting pressure on the opposition and gives the bowlers time to get wickets. A big factor in Australia and India being in the top three.

THE FACT
Sehwag8217;s year-wise strike rate: 2001: 65.27, 2002: 66.98, 2003: 73.21; 2004: 73.74. Overall SR: 70.96

How others currently fare: Tendulkar: 56.11, Dravid: 41.74, Ganguly: 49.41, Laxman: 49.83, Hayden: 62.65, Ponting: 58.03.

COOL
While the leading lights of Indian cricket are ultra-conscious of records and stats, Sehwag has no fear of failure, he seems to be above all of them
8211; Abbas Ali Baig

Which other cricketer will go for a boundary when five runs short of his first double-century? And, despite falling then, repeat the act with a historic 300 in sight? Soon after he raised eyebrows by employing the reverse sweep in the Kanpur Test, he was asked whether he practised the shot at nets. His reply was succinct: 8216;8216;Never8217;8217;.

It8217;s the courage to do the unconventional without being overburdened by the consequences that makes him different. Baig believes he8217;s a 8216;8216;refreshing change8217;8217; in Indian cricket, reminiscent of Mushtaq Ali. His real-life enactment of the Alfred E Neumanism, 8216;8216;What, me worry?8217;8217; is a big help to a team often needing some levity to burst the bubble of tension.

THE FACT
Even umpires enjoy his presence. Darryl Harper spoke of how he enjoyed standing alongside Sehwag at square leg and at the crease. 8216;8216;Whatever situation the team is in, whether he has runs or not, Sehwag is always upbeat and has a smile on his face,8217;8217; he says. And when he8217;s on song, Team India is smiling.

IS VIRU A MATCH WINNER?
The jury8217;s still out on that. At times he has won the game almost single-handed, at others India have won without a big contribution from him. There also have been instances when Sehwag did his bit but didn8217;t get a backup8230;

INDIA8217;S LAST FIVE TEST WINS

8226; Against South Africa, Kolkata
India win by eight wickets
Sehwag: 88 and 10
Sehwag top scored in the first innings with a fine 88 as India took that vital 106 runs lead. Though he failed while the hosts chased 117 in the second innings but the damage was done.

8226; Against Australia, Mumbai
India win by 13 runs
Sehwag: 8,5
On the dodgy Wankhede pitch Sehwag failed to fire. The bowlers did the trick as India won a tight contest

8226; Against Pakistan, Rawalpindi
India won by an inning and 131 runs
Sehwag: 0
Dravid8217;s match all the way

8226; Against Pakistan, Multan
India won by an inning and 52 runs
Sehwag: 309
This one Sehwag won almost single-handedly for India. 309 from 375 balls meant enough time for the bowlers to shoot those trying to climb Mt 675.

8226; Against Australia, Adelaide
India win by 4 wickets
Sehwag: 47, 47
A cameo role; two good starts when the team needed most. Once when the Aussies scored 556 in the first innings and when India chased 230 for victory.

ONES THAT GOT AWAY

8226; Against Australia, Melbourne
Australia win by 9 wickets
Sehwag: 195, 11
After the Adelaide win Sehwag continued the momentum. But Ponting8217;s 257 won it for his team.

8226; Against S Africa, Kanpur
Game drawn
Sehwag: 164
After South Africa had scored 510 in the first innings, Sehwag8217;s ton meant the Indians fell short by just 44 runs. Blame the dead pitch or the bowlers.

8226; Against Australia, Chennai
Game drawn
Sehwag: 155, 12 no
Match perfectly set up on Day 5 for Sehwag, a first-innings centurion, to do an encore. Then the rains came down.

HOW TO GET HIM OUT

8226; SHORT RISING BALL: A well-directed bouncer at his body catches him out of position. As Makhaya Ntini showed at Kolkata, he gets into an awkward position and loses sight of the ball. In doing so his bat hangs like a defence between the ball and his body.

8226; IMPETUOSITY: Remember this: India chasing a historic Test win at Adelaide last season and Sehwag dances down the track to Stuart MacGill. Ball is pitched outside leg-stump yet he makes room, misses it completely and dents India8217;s chances. There8217;s one for every occasion

8226; THE BAIT: Pitch it to him outside the off-stump and he will simply look to slash it above the slips. Sometime or the other he will lose his way

8226; THE FOOTWORK: Hand-eye coordination can only take you so far. When he comes up against testing conditions, like in New Zealand, he can be found out though he still managed better than others.

Chandresh Narayanan