The day Sehwag made his Test debut, I got thrown out of a JEE Physics class. As Prof. Ananthan chastised me, I did some quick math. On a wing and a prayer that SRT was still batting, I could be back home in time for the opening day post-lunch session of the India-South Africa Test at Bloemfontein. On a lightning fast surface, with Pollock & Co. spitting venom, Tendulkar blitzed his way to a coruscating century of incandescent brilliance. As Ntini and Nantie Hayward bowled short to attacking fields, Sachin unleashed the upper cut to devastating effect. At the other end, a lookalike quietly took his first steps under The Master’s watchful eye, but would go on to construct a career free of His immense shadow. It wasn’t a defensive knock from Sehwag by any stretch of imagination. The upper cut was emulated, and some scorchers were punched off the backfoot. But it was probably the first time in his fledgling first-class career that he was part of substantial partnership, and not its star. It would most definitely be the last.
A few weeks later, Sehwag taught Sachin a thing or two about tackling Nasser Hussain & Ashley Giles’ negative bowling tactics. Then came the 2002 Champions Trophy where he could do no wrong. Even as his scintillating strokeplay set the tournament ablaze, it was a nerveless display of off-spin bowling that took the cake. It brought back memories of Tendulkar’s final over in the Hero Cup almost a decade ago. Then, as now, the opponents were South Africa, the occasion, the semi-final of a multi-nation tournament, and the result, a miracle victory. In the meantime, Sehwag was converted to an opener in both forms of the game. It was a no-brainer in LOIs, aimed at maximum utilisation of his natural game during field restrictions. To do so in Test cricket, reeked of desperation to fit a precious talent into a side with no vacancies in the middle-order. Everybody knew that one of these two investments would pay rich dividends. Few could have accurately picked out the blue chip. Along with making Dravid keep wicket in LOIs, it was one of Ganguly’s boldest moves. Dravid’s sacrifice ran its course out with the 2003 World Cup high. Sehwag’s promotion was crucial to India’s ascent to the top of the ICC Test rankings.
Everything about Viru screams out for limited-overs stardom. And yet the man himself swears by the longer version. The relative regard in which he holds the different forms of the game is manifest in his career stats. He prides himself on being an exceptional Test batsman, when all big hitters seem to be going the other way. Mind you, I would too, if I could score at a run a ball and average more than Dravid and fractionally less than Tendulkar. He has scored 21 Test hundreds, and yet maintains he doesn’t care for centuries. Of course he does, not as a personal statistic, but as part of a bigger picture in how it impacts his team’s chances. As much as plays the charade of perverse pleasure in missing major milestones by a hair’s breadth, his gumption for big knocks is readily apparent. You might bat around a score of 100 by Dravid for a total of 400. Sehwag could be back in the hut after a ton, and India could still be 120/1. Paucity of bowling resources makes it imperative for Viru to bat longer, and yet score at blistering rates. In giving a weak attack sufficient time to take 20 wickets, he has been as much a fifth bowler as he would if he rolled his arm over more often to deliver his vastly under-rated off breaks.
When the Fab Five clench a fist, Sehwag sticks out like a sore thumb. The rusticity of a Vishal Bharadwaj in an age of popcorn rom-coms and clichéd chic-flicks. The insouciance of playground slang in a tradition founded upon textbook grammar. The travesty of Kaju Feni in a cellar of vintage Bordeaux. The scandal of Tandoori Chicken in a Tam-Bram meal. It is the nature of his game that deters us from bestowing greatness upon him like we do on Sachin & Dravid. And yet, when his case is backed by no less than Ian Chappell, you know it’s not just hyperbole. Of late, a century seems to be there for the taking everytime he steps out in whites. It is an extremely close call to pick Dravid ahead of him as star of the noughties. He has played some of the finest Test innings of the decade; 2 triple hundreds and another that almost was, all 3 knocks at a strike rate that’s once-in-a-lifetime! There was the classy double against a rampaging Mendis that showed him at his controlled best (not if you believe the strike rate though!). When Andrew Strauss declared leaving India almost 400 to get in a little over a day at Chepauk, Tendulkar found catharsis for the heart-wrenchingly narrow miss a decade ago at the same venue. The difference; he walked in at 6/2 in 1999, and at 131/2 in 2008, of which Sehwag had bulldozed 83 in 68 balls.
The man talks like he hits; straight and hard. Everybody thinks Boycott was a boring batsman and knows Bangladesh is crap. Few would say it on air and walk away caring a damn for the consequences. As incorrect politically, as he is technically. When Sehwag and Dravid put on 410 for the 1st wicket, one could almost see Dravid’s speech in his pocket. Sehwag said he hadn’t even heard of Vinoo Mankad & Pankaj Roy, let alone their record for the highest opening partnership! Street-smart and extremely canny, he doesn’t do diplomacy; not quite General, but a fine Subedar-Major. Charging his team along, leading from the front, invariably towards victory. After all, Viru will forever be associated with Jai.
TUSKY
