Why blaster Virender Sehwag reminds me of my former Australia teammate Doug Walters
Why blaster Virender Sehwag reminds me of my former Australia teammate Doug Walters
ADVERTISEMENT
Once again the irrepressible Virender Sehwag has made a valuable contribution to an Indian Test victory, this time a series tying win over Sri Lanka.
S is for Sehwag and also scintillating stroke-play, the perfect description for how Sehwag goes about his business.u00a0 However, you can add another Su00a0-- for smart.
The crucial factor in Sehwag being a smart cricketer is the fact that he's always been his own as a batsman. Many people talk about his lack of footwork and other supposed flaws in his technique but Sehwag just shrugs and smiles, as if to say; "Just watch me bat next time."
 |
| Doug Walters |
In this regard he reminds me of former teammate, Doug Walters. Walters was a match-winner and an extremely aggressive batsman but he resided in the middle-order. Many people harped on his crooked back-lift and how this stopped him reaching his full potential.
At a golf day in Brisbane after Walters had made a century in a Test match, former England fast bowler Frank "Typhoon" Tyson came up to the Australian, "Doug your technique is a disgrace," he began in provocative fashion. "If I was bowling I'd give you a couple of bouncers and then an off-cutter which would go right between your bat and pad."
Walters took a sip of his beer, looked at the retired fast bowler and replied, "That's not a problem Typhoon. I won't have to face you in this series."
Judging by his highly entertaining press conference earlier this year where Sehwag bluntly stated; "Bangladesh are an ordinary side. They can't beat India because they can't take 20 wickets," it's not just his approach to batting that he has in common with Walters. Sehwag is a breath of fresh air both on and off the field.
Fearless
To bat as fearlessly as Sehwag, you need to have great confidence in your ability and the self-belief that you're better than any bowler, any attack. His comments were not arrogance, rather an honest reflection of the way he sizes up an attack.
I played with a like-minded opener in South Australia's Les Favell. He was the most confident, some would say over-confident, player I ever encountered. He once opened in a Sheffield Shield match against top-class Australian fast bowler Graham McKenzie and missed an attempted cut shot from the first ball of the match.
He top-edged the next cut shot to the boundary and was out third ball, caught behind attempting yet another cut. On his return to the dressing room he tossed his bat in disgust and declared, "Jeez I was see'n 'em like footballs."
Favell never encountered a prolonged slump; to play in that manner you have to believe the next boundary will have you back in prime form. Sehwag's Test career follows a similar pattern. The nearest he's come to a prolonged poor patch was prior to the 2007-08 tour of Australia when he was really struggling, even at the first-class level and some were ready to write him off.
He's satisfactorily answered those critics and since returning to the Indian side he's been far and away (that's not an exaggeration) their best batsman.
Excluding matches against Bangladesh he's scored more runs and more centuries than anyone else and at a higher average than all but Gautam Gambhir. However, when it comes to run rate he leaves them all in his slip stream; astonishingly, he's more than two runs an over quicker than all the others.
That is what sets Sehwag apart from all other openers, his run rate, allied with his amazing ability to post mammoth scores.
Sir Donald Bradman is the only other player who has combined those two incredibly difficult batting tasks, scoring extraordinarily quickly for long periods and even he didn't do it facing the new ball.
Whichever way you look at it, Sehwag has either had the misfortune or the good luck to play in the same side as Sachin Tendulkar. It either deprives him of publicity or it allows him to float along in the background almost unimpeded.
Whatever the answer Sehwag has had an exceptional career; he's been the most dangerous batsman in world cricket for a long time. He's done it by adhering to another S; keeping it simple to be
successful.
"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels 
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
