Slipstream Cricket had a post about 2011 cricket events and named Sehwag’s speech after the Bangladesh victory as the speech of the year. But a Twitter message from HomerTweets reminded me of the most quotable quote from the inimitable Sehwag, this after his double-century:
When Sammy dropped my chance, I knew God was with me. I am tired, yes, I am an old man now.
Sehwag was serious, but I found the choice of words in the second sentence rather hilarious. Explaining it would spoil the fun.
In his early career days, when people used to talk about Sehwag, some compared his physique and batting style to Tendulkar, implying that he was a poor imitation. Over the years, Sehwag has created a different legacy for himself even outdoing Tendulkar in some cases with his triple centuries and almost-borderline manic batting in huge innings.
What was always struck me as strange is Sehwag’s great Test average (52.50) compared to his terrible ODI average (33.98). A few have pointed out that the different ODI fielding settings may have something to do with this. Plus Sehwag’s brain-fade when he tries one too many times to assert his authority over some bowler.
But even Sehwag’s Test average seems strange. He has the most Test double-centuries by an Indian. He could have had the most Test triple-centuries if he had made a few more runs yesterday. And when he gets a century, he invariably makes 150+. So why is he still in the low fifties when he could be in the sixties or upper fifties?
To understand that, I compared Sehwag with another great batsman of the same era, who has a similar average and played roughly the same number of Tests. Sehwag has 6248 runs at 52.50 in 123 innings. Kumar Sangakkara has 7545 runs at 55.47 in 147 innings. Not exactly the same, but will do for our purposes. Here is the breakdown of their innings:
One of the first things you will catch is that Sehwag has a much higher percentage of scores below 25 (46% versus 41%) and below 50 (71% versus 64%). Sehwag has 30 scores under 10, while Sangakkara over more innings has 28. But once you start looking at scores above 50, Sehwag looks much more attractive. He has been able to convert more fifties into hundreds and those hundreds into huge scores that have made a big difference to India’s results.
So for the opposition, Sehwag is easier to get early. But once he goes past that fifty, start saying your prayers because he is going to make you pay dearly.
When India was asked to follow on in the second test against New Zealand, I thought Virender Sehwag would set up and intriguing final two days of the match. We all remember how Sehwag pummeled 83 runs off just 68 balls, giving India a great start in their chase of a daunting 387 against England in Chennai last December.
I was expecting him to play a controlled innings this time. Instead Sehwag, the skipper of the India side in Dhoni’s absence, fell cheaply once again, playing an ugly shot. Sehwag went for a big swing over midwicket on a bent knee and missed. The ball floated on the off stump line and hit Sehwag’s back leg.
Since Sehwag took himself out during an important juncture of the game, he has positioned himself to be criticized by many people for his shot selection. I know his fans will say that that is how he plays, refusing to let any bowler settle. But as a captain, he has to be more careful.
It is very frustating to see a player of Sehwag’s caliber attempting such atrocious shots without concern for the match situation. Luckily, because of the efforts of Gambir, Dravid and Tendulkar, India managed to escape on the fourth day, but they may still have to pay for it on the last day. As far as I am concerned, Sehwag missed an opportunity to prove his mettle.
[Photo Credit: NASA]
It is not surprising that Sehwag broke the Indian record for the fastest century in one-day internationals. What is surprising is that he took so long to do it. The recent match between India and New Zealand was Sehwag’s 204th ODI match in his 10th year of playing one-dayers. Sehwag played his first ODI at No. 7 scoring one run off 2 balls against Pakistan in Chandigarh in 1999.
Most people who see Sehwag batting when he is full flow would be nonplussed by comparing his statistics in Tests with those in ODI. According to conventional wisdom, a person like Sehwag should have no business playing Tests. The law of averages dictates that he would throw away his wicket quite often and end up with a miserable average. On the other hand, we would expect him to be enormously successful in one-dayers, especially since he is an opener and can use the fielding restrictions to aid his natural game.
But take a look at his stats. He has a poor ODI average (34.30). The better one-day batsmen all have above 40 averages and the great ones (like Bevan) hover around 50. Sehwag has few centuries (11) for the number of matches he played. The only redeeming fact is his superb strike rate (101.66) which means that he takes less than a ball to make a run.
In Tests, Sehwag can truly be called a legend in the making. He already has an average (51.06) that most batsmen would die for. He makes his runs at a stunning pace (78.14) and already has two triple-centuries to his name, one of them at more than a run per ball. He invariably crosses 150 when he makes a century.
Why is this so? How does he manage to throw his wicket away faster in ODIs than in Tests, even though the latter stage presents more challenges in making runs? One theory I have is that in Tests, Sehwag is constantly looking for runs and is able to dispatch the marginally bad ball whenever it occurs. In ODIs, he doesn’t have that luxury and he needs to throw his bat at even good balls, hoping he gets it right.
[Photo adapted and licensed from Flying Cloud]
What a way to begin the New Year! Team India crushed Sri Lanka to win the ODI series 3-0. It is a delight to watch 2 batsmen scoring centuries in ODI, which is becoming a rare sight these days. I noticed that during post match interview, Yuvraj remarked, “It’s a big achievement to reach a century before Sehwag”. Wow, that’s the kinda batting spirit and competition we need to see more within players to improve quality. Of course, it was a flat batting wicket, but the way Yuvraj and Sehwag carried, and Yusuf Pathan’s hit a quick fire 50 later in the slog (isn’t he due for this sort of innings for a while?) is a treat to watch.
While Sehwag and Yuvraj enjoyed their luck with dropped catches, bad luck hit Sri Lanka when Jayasuriya was bowled for a golden duck. As it happens most of the time, chasing gets harder when wickets fall and the asking run rate kept climbing except during Sangakara’s consolation innings of 80+.
It’s Dhoni’s call to see whether he carries with the same team on the winning streak or try people (on the bench) who are waiting for chances.
[Photo licensed from Harshadewa]