Virender Sehwag Profile by CricketArchive

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Player:

V Sehwag

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DateLine: 19th February 2007

 

From a Tendulkar clone to a super star in his own right. That sums up the phenomenal rise of Sehwag who gets away with the boldest of shots, the most brazen of strokes. His approach continues to defy the scientific aspect on which batting is based. There are flaws in his technique, his footwork is not exactly a connoisseurs delight, he plays away from the body. All these are invitations to disaster if one goes by the coaching manual. But then Sehwag authors his own book on the field of play. He is a throwback to the buccaneering days of Mushtaq Ali and Kris Srikkanth. But there is one very important difference “ the figures associated with this kind of rip-roaring batting approach. Mushtaq Ali averaged 32 from eleven Tests. Srikkanth averaged a trifle under 30 in 43 Tests. These statistics are not unusual. There is always an element of risk in the devil may care approach. The stays at the crease are explosive, electrifying, enthralling - and short. Both Mushtaq and Srikkanth had just two centuries. But here we have Sehwag who averages 52 and has got 12 hundreds from 49 matches “ including two double centuries and a triple hundred. You dont associate such figures with a cavalier stand and deliver batsman. Sehwag is a batsman after ones own heart for he produces match winning, crowd-pleasing knocks. He is perhaps the most confounding batsman of his generation, one who bewilders bowlers and bewitches spectators. How on earth is a batsman who appears to be so fallible so consistent? The figures against his name certainly defy conventional logic. He is able to bring off the most incredible shots with a perpendicular bat in the manner of classical stroke players. In a way his approach may seem to be outrageous but can one argue with success? And Sehwag and spectacular success have gone together for some time now.