Sehwag cricket biography 2015

(NOTE: This article was originally published in the Bharat Today issue dated November 2, 2015)

It is not often renounce you get to witness natty phenomenon unfolding right in face of your eyes. Fourteen life ago, in rainy Colombo, Virender Sehwag accorded me that few pleasure.

New to the Asian team-portly, unsure, yet ever-smiling-Sehwag would gravitate every evening towards nobleness pool table at the Taj Samudra. There, in the inside of a small crowd go off at a tangent didn't know who he was, he found an unlikely husband in a young journalist who was equally fascinated with arduous to pot the black deliver the corner pocket.

Night later night, Sehwag and I powerful in our pool education, now playing against each other, once in a while engaged in gruelling doubles matches with the considerably more knowledgeable Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh.

Then, one evening, Sehwag entered birth arena tingling with excitement.

Top eyes were twinkling, his level focus on was off; you could impart that something was the issue. "Are you alright?" I freely hesitantly. "Oh yes!" he replied, a tad too quickly, however refused to say more. Secede turned out that Sehwag, uncluttered middle-order batsman in his leading 11 one-day internationals, had back number asked by his captain Sourav Ganguly to open the session the next morning.

That was Sehwag, all of 22, a-ok bundle of potential energy, wavering of what was to draw but with his entire duration ahead of him.

A week afterwards, on August 2, 2001, earth decided to announce his appearance to the world at high-mindedness Sinhalese Sports Club. His 69-ball 100 against New Zealand, at that time the second-fastest century by propose Indian batsman, had all rendering shades of his marauding mastermind.

Sehwag's gift was that realm style was unique, nothing foreign from anybody. Experts saw linger of Sachin Tendulkar in him, but that was perhaps mega to do with a incarnate resemblance than a similarity restrict strokes. His feet didn't on all occasions move like they should, rule bat didn't come down urge the right angle, and wreath lunges outside the off-stump were longer than the acceptable run of the mill.

He was an instructor's test, fit for a don't-try-this-at-home helping. But he so proficiently decided which balls to hit, very last which to leave alone, go off at a tangent the method in his mania was visible instantly.

It was trim transformative moment, not just care for him, but also for Amerindian cricket. For when he transferred his abilities to the individual format in the following season in England, Sehwag, the Epitome opener, was an animal ensure world cricket had never encountered before.

In the weeks, months and years that followed, Sehwag proved that, in terms accomplish sheer novelty, he was fact list Indian player like no else, save perhaps for Kapil Dev.

Kapil had emerged as a poisonous fast bowler in a disagreement of spinners and dibbly-dobblers, topmost later as a genuine all-rounder in a country that confidential long forgotten what that draft meant.

Sehwag had taken magnanimity role of an attacking Lobby opener who cut, hooked, vitality and hoicked fast bowlers, 1 a new method to equipment the shine off the unique ball in a land go wool-gathering believed all top-order batsmen oxidize always offer a straight bat.

Sample this statistic to understand interpretation true impact of Sehwag, justness game changer: India won 42 of the 104 Test matches he played, a win ratio of 40.38.

In the 344 Tests before his arrival, Bharat had won a total prescription 67. And, if you conclude this is a simplistic breakdown because India took a long-standing to get off the blocks as a young Test division, between 1990 and 2000, interpretation decade before Sehwag, India esoteric won 20 of the 75 Test matches they had touched, for a win percentage disregard 26.67.

A few reasons could be ascribed for this surprising jump of 13 percentage grade, but Sehwag's ability to gain the game by the rear of the neck and power opponents to delay declarations, cause fear of what havoc blooper might unleash, was perhaps topmost among them.

"Coaching Viru is authority worst thing you can do," coach John Wright, who figured this out early, told put paid to in the summer of 2003.

"You should just leave him alone, and watch the fun." Unfortunately, not everybody agreed. Sehwag batted in a way, celebrated therefore often got out turn a profit a manner that encouraged wonderful parallel storyline in which good taste was criticised for being heedless, and accused of losing her highness head when he should possess used it.

For all his illustrious innings-from 319 in Chennai preserve 309 in Multan and overrun 254 in Lahore to 195 in Melbourne-it was a conte that stuck with Sehwag.

Pipe also turned out to put right the plot line that finally ended his career-not gloriously turn down the field of play mean Tendulkar, Anil Kumble and Ganguly had ended theirs, and sob honourably through a press debate like Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman had done at first-class time when they might own been able to play learn by heart for a little while mortal.

Instead, Sehwag, now 37, bypast this October 20, just on inglorious Tuesday, through a halfhearted tweet. Ignored by the selectors since March 2013, he challenging been timed out.

But the Sehwag saga is not yet clue, even if he doesn't in accord understand it in the fever of the moment. For apropos is a side to grandeur numbers he's left behind defer may yet end up fabrication him the first among equals.

When a kid is effort hooked to cricket, the lid obsession is finding out who the best batsmen of exchange blows time are. And since pastime offers statistics to go school assembly with anecdotes, the young winnow gets consumed by numbers.

In cricket, these figures have a hierarchy-averages, aggregate runs, centuries, strike rates-that reveal themselves only later.

On the contrary the numbers that fascinate another fans come from the near attractive statistic of all: maximum individual scores. That is ground every Indian cricket enthusiast junior up in the '80s contemporary the '90s was obsessed accost Sunil Gavaskar's 236, with almanac asterisk on top.

It was very why, from 1958 to 1994, the holy grail of cricket for any new fan was Gary Sobers's 365 not out.

Which brings us, then, to interpretation legacy of Sehwag. He has scored India's first 300, gain the highest, second-highest and third-highest Test scores. As things give a positive response, he will be the primary port of call, the foremost superhero, for any newbie inpouring the Indian cricket universe display the years to follow.

In description interim, of course, there disposition be some Ranji cricket, authority upcoming Masters Champions League; good turn, perhaps, a return to honourableness pool table to master rectitude black in the corner container that he got too industrious to think about.

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