Viru changed grammar of batsmanship
After Virender Sehwag had been dismissed for a rousing 254 against Pakistan at Lahore in January 2006, a volunteer in the Gaddafi Stadium press box sidled up to me, shaking his head, wearing a bewildered look. `` Yeh to Mad Max ka bhi baap hai’’, he said. ( He is Mad Max’s father).
I doubt he was referring directly to Mel Gibson’s character in the apocalyptic fiction movie: more likely, the volunteer was drawing a parallel with former Sri Lanka great Aravinda De Silva whose batting pyrotechnics had earned him this sobriquet from awestruck critics.
The fact that he placed Sehwag so much above Aravinda ( in the sub- continental hierarchy, a father is always, unimpeachably in pole position) highlights the impact India’s dashing opener had on not just the press box volunteer, but perhaps the psyche of cricketloving Pakistanis.
Less than two years earlier, Sehwag had destroyed the Pakistan bowling, hitting 309 — the first Test triple century by an Indian — at Multan. This had taken him 376 deliveries; the 254 at Lahore, his second double century, came off just 247 balls.
If this was furiously fast run- scoring, Sehwag was to reach breakneck speeds in later years. Against a strong South African attack, he scored his second triple century at Chennai, 319 off only 304 balls. Two years later, he sent the Sri Lankan bowlers into a tizzy, smashing 293 off just 254 deliveries at Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium.
I am not usually enamoured by statistics. Numbers can be a banal representation of the brilliance of a cricketer. But sometimes they highlight a genius. There is no better definition of Sir Don Bradman, for instance, than his career batting average of 99.94.
Sehwag too is one of those rare players whose cricketing merit is seen in truer perspective through figures. I am citing some here — borrowing also from howindialives. com — to explain the point.
1) Sehwag is one of only four players in the history of cricket to score two Test triple centuries. ( Others are Bradman, Lara, Gayle).
2) Along with Bradman, he has three of the 10 top scores made in a day.
3) Of 10 fastest double centuries in Test history, Sehwag has made five.
4) Among top 10 run- getters in the history of the game, Sehwag has the highest strike rate — a mind- boggling 82.2 per 100 balls.
It must be clarified strike rates of batsmen is a fairly recent addition to Test statistics which is why those for players like Bradman, Sobers and Richards to name a few are not known. But it is doubtful anybody has scored quicker, except perhaps those who have played a handful of matches.
This puts Sehwag’s brilliance and significance in true perspective. To be able to sustain such a dazzling rate of scoring for more than a decade marks him out as not just a player of extraordinary ability, but someone who changed the grammar of batsmanship.
Usually, openers are sedate, brick- by- brick innings builders. Sehwag cast aside this time- held stereotype in thrilling style.
He was not a pinch- hitter but a systematic destroyer of bowling. His approach was to go hell- for- leather, but it was not bereft of cricketing intelligence.
Sehwag, like all great batsmen, played a percentage game. It’s just that he read the risk quotient in his strokes so acutely that everybody else but him thought that he could get out any minute.
To watch Sehwag bat was like riding pillion with a hell- driver on a road with several twists and turns: spectators usually had their hearts in their mouths as they sat on the edge of their seats in palpitating excitement.
This was not recklessness or irresponsible abandon, but clear understanding of his strengths and the weakness of opponents. One aspect of his success was obviously superb batting skills, but the other, more significant, was the selfbelief and mental toughness to treat even the most daunting situation as opportunity.
Starting off as a Tendulkar clone, Sehwag rose in eminence to become one of the greatest batsmen of all time. In my years of watching cricket, I can safely say that in the last 40 years, apart from Viv Richards, no other batsman put the fear of god in bowlers as he did in his pomp.
Sehwag’s methods were unique but his contribution — particularly to the team cause — was monumental. In my book, he rates as the biggest match- winning batsman in the annals of Indian cricket. It’s unlikely we’ll see another Viru.