24 December,2009 07:13 AM IST | | A Correspondent
Virender Sehwag's call for youngsters to grab their chances is not misplaced since he did it quickly himself
Cricket emergencies can cause the most amusing of happenings. A few months ago, Virender Sehwag was not keen to lead any team. Today, he could lead India to a one-day series win over Sri Lanka in the absence of regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is serving a two-match suspension for slow over-rate.
Flat Lankans
The Lankans don't seem to have got over their 0-2 hiding in the Test series and they may appear flat. But they are an international team the Indians derive special pleasure in beating. Ever since they claimed international cricket's biggest prize the World Cup in 1996 they have troubled India.
Yuvraj Singh out of the mix in this series through a finger injury leaves India further depleted.
Hence, Sehwag's call for his youngsters to grab their chance and make it count today is justified. Rohit Sharma has ability in abundance, but he has not done full justice to it in 50-over cricket. Virat Kohli is a battler, but he'll do well to get bigger scores.u00a0 "The youngsters are getting an opportunity to play for their country and if they do well and make a mark it's good for the team as well. The bench strength will get stronger and stronger," Sehwag said on the eve of today's fourth one-day international at the Eden Gardens. The stand-in captain knows what he is talking about. For, he too, had a challenging start to his career before coming good when he got a comeback opportunity.
After making a forgettable debut against Pakistan in 1999 (leg before to Shoaib Akhtar for 1 in Mohali), Sehwag got two opportunities against the Zimbabweans in 2000, one of which he didn't get a chance to bat. After India's epic 2-1 series win against Australia in 2001, the selectors decided to drop Robin Singh and recall Sehwag for the first one-dayer in Bangalore. Sehwag grabbed the opportunity and excelled with bat (58) and ball (three for 59) to claim man-of-the-match honours.
India, who had only recently halted Australia's Test-winning spree went on to break Australia's 10-match victory sequence. When asked by MiD DAY whether he was under pressure to perform considering it was his comeback match, he said: "I had no pressure. Look, it's simple: If you perform well, you'll be in the side. If you don't, you'll not make it."
Modus operandi
Dhoni has been a terrific captain and his cool modus operandi when dealing with youngsters has yielded good results. Sehwag too has shown that he does not believe in being a control freak. The calm influence over rookie Ravindra Jadeja must have had a positive effect on the Saurashtra kid in the last match at Cuttack.
If India win tonight, it will be their second win on the trot against a team that fell only three runs short of surpassing a 400-plus total in the first game at Rajkot. This could show up Sehwag's leadership skills. And who knows, he may become less cynical about captaincy.
Over to Eden Gardens.
