Sehwag more destructive than Richards

When Virender Sehwag gets going, it's like you're watching a James Bond movie. He can drive a car over a cliff, dodge bullets, fight off 20 armed men bare-handed - all of it while wearing a crisp suit, which remains uncrumpled. Only that in Sehwag's case it is all for real: each of those strokes can get him out.


In causing stroke-making to appear so outrageously simple, Sehwag does himself a disservice. Often the true quality of a batting performance is judged by what the batsman is up against, the kind of bowlers on offer, and the conditions. But when Sehwag starts to rain fours and sixes, it becomes impossible to make sense of anything: the bowlers appear fangless, the pitches seem highways, and the match situation becomes absolutely irrelevant.

Sometimes the batsmen who follow him help put the matter in perspective by appearing human, but often the opponents have been left too scarred by the shellacking to recover their wits. In Chennai last December, India found themselves chasing 387 on a wearing pitch. The enduring image of the match is of Sachin Tendulkar's delicately swept four off Graeme Swann to bring up his 41st hundred and the Indian victory; but in a match featuring four centuries, the decisive innings had come from Sehwag: an astonishing 68-ball 83 in the final session of the fourth day that brought he target down to just over 300 in a flash. In a mere 20 overs, England had slipped from being firm favourites to fumbling underdogs.

The most staggering aspect of Sehwag's career, of course, is that a batsman so outrageous should be so prolific. The words used to describe him - entertainer, destroyer, maverick, match-winner - fail to capture the whole essence of Sehwag. And perhaps because of his methods there has been a reluctance to place him alongside the gods of batting. But there is little left for him to prove now: he is a stunning and extraordinary batsman, to whom the term "great" should be applied without qualifications.

His numbers are up there with the very best. Seventy-two Tests is substantial sample, and over 6000 runs at over 50, with 17 hundreds, comfortably stands up to statistical scrutiny. But there is one number that sets him apart. No batsman in the history of cricket has scored his runs as quickly. In the list of batsmen to have scored 6000 Test runs, he, with a strike-rate of just over 80, stands more than 10 points adrift of the next best man. That man, Viv Richards, scored his runs at a shade below 70.

Reduce the qualification to 5000 runs and there are only two men who have been recorded to have scored faster. But both Kapil Dev and Adam Gilchrist batted at No. 7; Kapil averaged only 31.50, and Sehwag has 700 more runs in 14 fewer Tests than Gilchrist, whose average was boosted by 20 not-outs as against Sehwag's five.

On a more like-like for list, of contemporary top-order batsmen, Sehwag stands miles ahead. Sachin Tendulkar (12,917 runs at 54.73) has a strike-rate of 54.12, Ricky Ponting (11,400 runs at 55.88) scores at a rate of 59.41, Matthew Hayden (8625 runs at 50.73) got his at 60.10, and Brian Lara (11,953 runs at 52.88) at 60.51. Sanath Jayasuriya comes closest, with a strike-rate of 65.10, but his average is just over 40.


But of course, numbers are merely the starting point. Greatness is judged by a number of other factors. Quality of opponents, versatility, the ability to score in different conditions, and most of all being able to turn up when it matters. Sehwag ticks all these boxes emphatically.

His first hundred came in his debut Test, on a lively pitch in Bloemfontein after India had lost four wickets for not many. He has gone on to score big hundreds in diverse conditions in Nottingham, Melbourne, Chennai, Mumbai, Lahore and Galle. He has collared Shane Warne, shredded Shoaib Akhthar, got the better of Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee, finished off Saqlain Mushtaq's career, and walloped Mutthiah Muralitharan like no one, including Lara, has before. He has set up wins and saved more Tests than he is given credit for.

That his second triple-hundred, a better-than-run-a-ball 319 against South Africa in Chennai came in a run-fest often obscures the fact that India started the innings trying to save the Test, facing 540. By the time Sehwag finished, he was speaking of winning it. His previous century, an uncharacteristically stodgy 151 in Adelaide had been a decidedly match-saving effort, on the final day of the Test. It was the only time, Sehwag reflects with pride, that he went an entire session without hitting a four.

It is in the hitting of fours that Sehwag reveals his true genius. Fours are the foundation of his batting, and he is obsessive about them. During an interview last year, we asked him which bowlers he found most difficult. McGrath and Murali, Sehwag said. The reason: he couldn't hit them for fours when he wanted to.

No plan to tie Sehwag down has ever succeeded. Nasser Hussain managed to frustrate Tendulkar for long periods in 2001 by getting Ashley Giles to bowl two feet outside the leg stump from over the wicket. The matter came to an excruciating pass in the Bangalore Test, where Giles bowled 99 dots balls to Tendulkar out of 112. Sehwag, playing in his fourth Test then, found a refreshingly simple way to put an end to the nonsense. He went wide of his leg stump, down the wicket, and clouted Giles back over his head. Of his 66 runs, 27 came against Giles, with six fours. It was infectious: soon Tendulkar hit Giles for two consecutive fours and was stumped, for the first time in his career, after charging down to hit a third.

The theme has continued through Sehwag's career. At the Brabourne Stadium yesterday, Murali set the leg trap with a forward short leg, short mid-on, and midwicket. Inevitably the next ball was pitched on middle and spun across outside leg. And inevitably Sehwag hit it for four. Reverse-swept to third man. Later in the day, he played a paddle reverse-sweep against the same bowler, this time to a faster and slightly shorter ball.

And when Rangana Herath fired the first ball of the 60th over down the leg side, Sehwag cast a quizzical glance at the umpire, protesting perhaps that the ball should have been called a wide. And then proceeded to deal with the matter himself by twice jumping wide and far down the wicket to loft the ball, inside out, over extra cover. Throughout the innings he found ways to score in boundaries, through drives and lofted shots, and equally, with chips and deft touches. One ball from Chanaka Welegedara he deflected off the face of his bat past second slip.

It was his ability to strike fear in the hearts of bowlers that set Richards apart. It can be argued that bowling stocks were healthier in that age, but a man can't be held guilty of not being able to choose his circumstances. It's futile wondering how Sehwag would fared in the 70s and 90s. Against the best that his times have offered him, Sehwag has been more destructive than even Richards. Let's cut out the buts now.

Postscript: Of course I defend your right to disagree with me but I would not like you to disagree with something I didn't say. Nowhere did I say, or mean to say, that Sehwag is a greater batsman than Richards. These are my exact words: "Against the best that his times have offered him, Sehwag has been more destructive than even Richards." That's a statement of fact, borne out by numbers. The conclusion I sought to draw was that Sehwag has earned the right to be termed a great batsman in his age.

With this clarified, let's carry on the discussion.

Sreesanth lets the ball do the talking

Sreesanth covered his face as soon as the ball flashed from Mahela Jayawardene's outside edge and past the narrow alley between MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar at first slip. It was probably the ball of the day: it was the first ball Jayawardene was facing and, perhaps sensing his vulnerability, Sreesanth pitched it fuller and shaped it away just enough to prompt Jayawardene to play at it. Where once Sreesanth might have walked up to the batsman and indulged in a bit of verbal, today he walked back quietly with a faint smile.


Today, Sreesanth didn't need the verbals; the ball did the talking for him. Such was his allure that each time he ran in Green Park buzzed with expectation. And when he had finished his job and led his team off the pitch, it was incredible to think he was coming into this Test without any international cricket for the past 19 months and without much match experience of any sort.

Yet, as he later said, he was "hungry to take the "new ball". The aim was not to go full throttle straightaway, though he did hit Tharanga Paranavitana's helmet with an accurate bouncer. On a docile pitch Sreesanth understood that trying to hit express pace would be futile; the focus was on hitting that length from where he could make the batsmen play and vary pace.

"This was a wicket where the faster you bowl the easier it is to bat. It was important to make him (batsman) play early and make him play late and it was a mixture of lots [of deliveries]," Sreesanth said while explaining his strategy.

He then started shaping the ball both ways, sowing the seeds of doubt in the Lankan minds. The first over was a maiden to Paranavitana, who was clearly edgy and eventually nicked an outswinger to Dhoni. Then came Mahela who, though lucky to escape off that first delivery, found Sreesanth pounding in relentlessly, banging the ball unerringly on the same spot.

Against Sangakkara, Sreesanth used the crease to produce his angle. He came round the wicket and bowled a slower ball that the Lankan captain picked smartly but had him next ball. It was a straighter one, fuller and wide on off stump and, though apparently harmless, Sangakkara dragged it on to his stumps. Thilan Samaraweera fell in the same fashion after being pegged down by Sreesanth's movement early on.

Sreesanth returned halfway into the second session when the two Jayawardenes - Mahela and Prasanna - were attempting to retrieve the situation. The ball was old and with his pace Sreesanth had the advantage of extracting reverse swing. Continuing to attack the off stump Sreesanth speared a toe crusher into Prasanna. The Lankan got his bat down in the nick of time but the crowd roared as the Indians appealed anyway. The next ball, though, Sreesanth pitched on the seam, cut the ball out and the batsman went fishing. This time contact with the bat was debatable but the decision went the bowler's way.


He would soon bend Ranganna Herath's off stump with another straightening delivery to bag his second five-for - roughly three years after his first, during India's brilliant victory in Johannesburg in 2006.

Perhaps that performance became Sreesanth's albatross, increasing public expectations and, indeed, those in his own mind. He was 24, relatively green, and wanting to get a wicket every ball. The next three years were up and down, with lots of plateau thrown in, and a 19-month spell on the sidelines.

He now seems to have turned full circle. Sreesanth's fast bowling skills have never been in question: fast-bowling greats like Allan Donald have always cited his example to youngsters, particularly pointing to his erect wrist position at the point of release as exemplary. The energy, the ability to swing at 140-plus speeds, and that priceless quality of pitching ball after ball on the same spot make Sreesanth a terrific package.

The doubts that have persisted have always been about his temperament. He was always vulnerable to adrenalin and bravado, a heady mix that has frustrated and irritated the team management, co-players and selectors.

Though he spent a month at Warwickshire and then the season-opening Irani Cup, no one, perhaps not even the man himself, knew whether he was ready for the return. He was fined during the Irani Cup game for abusing an opponent and received a stiff warning from the BCCI against breaching the code of conduct. And it's fair to say his selection for the first two Tests did not evoke universal approval.

Remarkably amidst such chaos Sreesanth maintained his calm. All through the last two weeks he has been restrained, doing his job, head down in a silent manner. In training session teammates have consciously left him alone, while praising him silently as he bowled at good speeds, beating the bat consistently.

He's been quiet since his comeback. And today, he let the ball do the talking.

India delight in Delhi double-act

It was just a brief chat but its importance increased as the day went on. Midway through the 21st over Virender Sehwag walked up to Gautam Gambhir and said a few words. Gambhir listened patiently and nodded in response.

The previous ball, Muttiah Muralitharan had drawn Gambhir out with a well-flighted off break. Gambhir, a few runs short of his half-century, stepped out and tried unsuccessfully to hit him over mid-on. The next delivery, after the chat, the sequence of events was the same but with one difference: Murali flighted the ball, Gambhir jumped out of his crease but this time he connected well and hit over mid-off for a four.

Sehwag's gesture was, in fact, complementary. Earlier in the morning, when he was struggling, his junior team-mate walked up to him frequently to help him relax. More importantly, Gambhir made sure that while Sehwag was still finding his feet the scoring tempo never slowed down. It was probably the most important act in the Indian innings - had Gambhir not kept the scoring rate at a healthy four-plus, Sri Lanka would have had a foot inside the Indian door.

It was yet another sign of how the two Delhi openers have forged a bond of complete trust and respect, how they feed off each other and how, in the process, they have moved to within 507 runs of becoming India's best opening pair, and have already featured in the most number of opening stands leading to Indian victories.

Within a couple of hours of that chat, Sehwag and Gambhir had posted their highest-ever partnership, the 233-run stand beating their previous best - recorded at Kanpur, against South Africa five years ago in their second Test together.

"I was not hitting the ball well to begin with and Gautam was in good form. He was getting boundaries and we were maintaining three runs an over and hence there was not much pressure on me," Sehwag said.
There's no better testament to Gambhir's growth than his ability to assess situations and then adapt to them almost instantly. Today, no length unsettled him, no bowler could lure him into a false shot; repeatedly, Chanaka Welegedara attacked his off stump with a fuller line, repeatedly Gambhir stood his ground to open the face of the bat at the last minute and glide it towards third man. Not only did he rotate the strike but he assumed the mantle when the Sri Lankans kept Sehwag in the check in the first hour.


It was a double-act reminiscent of the best of this generation, Justin Langer and Mathew Hayden: neither Australian relented under pressure. If one partner was under the cosh, the other would assume the aggressor's role even if it meant taking some risks. The only thing that mattered was to construct a good, solid platform in the first session. So often was Australia's fate scripted in those first two hours of the morning. And more often than not, they ended up on the winning side.

Partnerships of any kind require understanding. And you can understand the other only when you communicate clearly. Having shared a dressing room - first with Delhi and now for India - for nearly a decade, each knows the other's pulse.

And so, like a pair of screen cops, they cover for each other, they pick separate targets and double the mayhem. Last year in Galle, India were in a desperate situation after being dumbfounded by Ajantha Mendis in the first Test in Colombo. Sehwag and Gambhir read him best and they capitalised on that in Galle with the game's most vital partnership; their 167-run stand put India on top and the openers returned for the second dig with a 90-run partnership to keep India in the clear. In both innings Sehwag neutered the menace of Mendis by attacking him while Gambhir took charge of Murali.

The Indian pair applied the same strategy even today as Sehwag assaulted Mendis straightaway while Gambhir made Murali change his lines frequently by stepping out and placing the ball into the gaps. The Lankans were under the pump from both ends and could do little. "I was telling myself just play first 8-10 overs so I was concentrating hard and trying to leave the ball outside off. I worked hard in the first hour and after that I played my shots" Sehwag said.

He then revealed what he said to Gambhir in the 21st over: "I was just telling him to think big because this wicket is very good … and if he stayed there for three hours he would get his hundred."

When Dhoni's worlds collide

The ball was full, but not quite a half-volley. The shot that followed was something of a topspin forehand hit on the half-volley, bouncing close to the baseline. The knees were not bent like a tennis player's but the bigger bat and massive twirl did the job, depositing the ball wide of long-on for one of the flatter sixes you're likely to see. MS Dhoni can still play those shots.

That he does not do as freely or as often as he used to is not lost on fans and colleagues alike. When Dhoni hits big shots in the nets, Virender Sehwag is usually quick to point out, in banter, "MS, yahan to bade-bade lag rahe hain, match mein kya ho jata hai? [Where do these big shots disappear in the matches?]"

It should also not be forgotten that Dhoni refrains from such audacious shots because he has explosive batsmen all around him, and his solid batting in the middle allows those flashers to play their flashier game. Nor should it be forgotten that Dhoni has managed to maintain a respectable strike-rate in one-day cricket while tempering his approach.

Since becoming captain, Dhoni has played 63 ODIs with a visibly more responsible approach. In that time he has hit 34 sixes compared to 71 in 84 prior ODIs, and 160 fours to an earlier 206. In fewer matches, though, he has scored more runs at a slightly lesser strike-rate and hugely improved average. In the last two years, Dhoni has become a complete and remarkably consistent one-day batsman. Still he can't keep everyone happy, as Dhoni readily reminded: "At some of the venues, people still expect me to hit those big sixes every time, so it is different."

Today was the best of both of Dhoni's worlds. When he came in at 97 for 3 in the 16th over India were threatening to have aimed too high, and thus losing too many wickets too early. The first ball he faced hit him on the back of his head. He had taken his eyes off the ball, and found it following him. "It went blank," said Dhoni. "That's what happens when you get hit on the head. "It was a good delivery. It's not like I was hit in the head for the first time. I am quite used to it. If you want to put together a package, you'll get at least 15 shots of my getting hit in the head. It's not the best way to start the innings."

He still had the presence of mind to steal a leg-bye. The first half of the innings was all about stealing and haring between the wickets; the robbing could wait. Ricky Ponting tried to make that stealing difficult, keeping mid-off and mid-on in for the best part of first 40 overs. The boundary riders stayed off the ropes, trying to cut the twos on a huge ground. At that point Dhoni didn't feel the need to clear mid-off or mid-on; he kept taking ones and twos despite a proactive approach from Ponting.

Suresh Raina, a younger man with a lesser workload and fresher legs, kept raising his bat and patting it in appreciation of every scrambled single, and every one turned into two. It is this sort of commitment, this attitude of doing it first before demanding it of others, that earns Dhoni his team-mates' respect.

Dhoni hit one boundary in the first 28 balls he faced and two more before he raised his half-century off 55 balls. That is the new Dhoni for you. "You play by instinct, but at the same time there is a cautious attempt to see what the demand actually is," he said. "If there is a youngster playing at No. 4, and he tries to play a big shot and gets out, its okay, people say he will learn and he will improve. But when it comes to a senior who has played around 100-odd international games, people rip him apart.

"At times that's in the back of your mind. Earlier when you went for a big shot, you backed yourself and went for it. It's not the same as I was three or four years ago, less responsibility and more flair. But now I have more responsibility every time I turn up on the field. A lot depends on what kind of pressure you are handling."

Still some yearn for the old Dhoni, especially when the situation asks for it, during a difficult chase or while setting targets. He has managed that, like he did in the West Indies earlier this year, having promoted himself to No. 3 and scoring a 34-ball 46. Amid his nudging and nurdling, which is not the most pleasant sight on a cricket field, such innings get forgotten. Even Kris Srikkanth, the chairman of selectors, couldn't hide his glee when announcing that the old Dhoni was back.

And back the old Dhoni was. Walking down and hitting Shane Watson, heaving and slapping Mitchell Johnson, hitting three bottom-handed sixes in two overs, he scored 54 runs in his last 27 balls, putting it past Australia, barring a freak innings or poor bowling. Even as the crowd went wild, it couldn't be escaped that this man had earned the right to go berserk after having built an innings, having worked hard through the most part of his piece.

India need both the Dhonis, but there are other batsmen who can compensate for the old Dhoni, and more often than not it's the new Dhoni that nobody else evokes. Dhoni, more than anybody else, knows that.

Sidharth Monga is a staff writer at Cricinfo

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