ON THIS DAY
Follow UsIf there was ever a batter in cricket’s history who remained absolutely unaffected by the burden of expectation, it was Virender Sehwag. The batter played for the sheer joy of whacking the ball and when he didn’t enjoy it anymore, he retired.
The innings that made Virender Sehwag a household name across the globe came during India’s tour of Pakistan in 2004. It was right after India’s iconic win against their archrivals in the 2003 World Cup when the severed ties between the nations had mended and the Indian team travelled to Pakistan under massive expectations.
Following the Parliament attack in 2000, India hadn’t played a match against Pakistan until their face-off in Centurion during the ODI World Cup. But, more importantly, India hadn’t travelled to Pakistan for a Test series since 1989. Though the likes of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis were gone and Shoaib Akhtar was just a shadow of his former self, the home crowd was sure to make things difficult for their neighbours.
It was the perfect moment for the uber-confident Sehwag, too, as the opener was coming off a great series in Australia, where he had tallied 464 runs in four Tests, which included a brilliant 195 in Melbourne.
India had started their Pakistan Test series in Multan and Sehwag would go on to score 309 runs in Pakistan’s backyard. He had ended his innings with a mindboggling 39 boundaries, six sixes and an unbelievable 336-run partnership with Sachin Tendulkar, who would remain unbeaten on 194 as India declared for 675/5. India went on to win the Test by an innings and 52 runs as Sehwag became the first Indian to score a triple century in Test cricket.
Why this knock defines Sehwag almost impeccably is the manner in which he did it. Having gotten out on 195 in the preceding series in Australia, any batsman would have suffered nervousness. But Sehwag was built differently, and while it is easy to say he didn’t care about records, the nawab of Najafgarh actually didn’t. He had already reached his 100 with a six, and standing on the brink of becoming the first-ever Indian to score a triple century, Sehwwag would step out to hit a six to bring up his 300.
It was this attitude that defined him, and it can be safely said that no team in international cricket ever had a batsman who could play with absolutely no pressure, regardless of the situation. Mane perceived it as a lack of responsibility, and calls were made to drop the batsman during his lean path in 2006. But, he would soon come back with a 180 against West Indies.
Perhaps former Australian captain Michael Hussey had described his the best, stating, “A batsman like Sehwag is never out of form.”
If Sanath Jayasuriya had shown world cricket a modern way to score quick runs in the first 10 overs of a game, then it was Sehwag who had made it a trend for generations to come. He was easily the best opener India had in Tests, and he remained a very important player for Test cricket as well. As Kapil Dev would put it, “Players like Sehwag bring the crowd back to Test cricket."
Four years later, Sehwag would score another triple century, this time on home soil against a South African team that had the likes of Dale Steyn, Moner Morkel, Jacques Kallis, Makhaya Ntini and more. Having tallied a mammoth 540 runs in the first innings, the Proteas were looking for a definite win in Chennai until Sehwag turned up.
On a day when Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and MS Dhoni failed to perform, Sehwag would hit 42 boundaries and five sixes to help India achieve a 67-run lead over 540. The match ended in a draw.
Though Sehwag tallied a decent 8586 runs in his entire Test career with an average of 49.34, where he had hit 23 centuries, he changed the perception of an opener in red-ball cricket.
Sehwag has 15 centuries in ODIs as well, with an outstanding double-hundred against West Indies in 2011. West Indies were touring India immediately after the Men Imn Blue had become world champions, and Sehwag had batted like one at the Holkar Stadium. He went on to hit 25 boundaries and seven sixes to tally 219 runs in 149 balls as India had set up a mammoth target of 419 runs for the Men in Maroon. A struggling West Indies team had lost the match by 153 runs.
His white-ball career wasn’t half-bad either, where he tallied 8273 runs with an average of 35.05, but this remained largely a hit-and-miss affair. But Sehwag shouldn’t be remembered by his numbers but by the moments.
Whether it be opening five 2011 World Cup matches with a boundary, or humming a Kishore Kumar song just before sending the ball for a thumping six, Sehwag is the missing piece in cricket today.
Former Pakistan cricketer Rameez Raja had rightly said, “When Viv Richards retired, I thought it was the end of entertainment. But then came Sehwag, the King of Entertainment!”
