Sehwag – The Ultimate Treasure

Himanshu Shekhar

Daredevil, swashbuckling, dangerous, awesome, sensational, defiant, explosive and mesmerizing are the key words which describe Virender Sehwag’s batting. But, as a cricket writer, one is in constant search to find him the right adjective. Newspaper columnists always run the risk of sounding absurd while describing his innings, for there is always the chance of Sehwag doing something which no one would have imagined in their wildest of dreams. His heroics, scant respect for and his easy ways in tough situations always attract attention. The old school of thought latches on to every opportunity to trash his batting style, while the modern pundits hail it as the best way to go about cricket. Some, like me, are always keen to find a method in his madness. Andy Zaltzman, a cricket satirist says in his popular blog, “If Sehwag had been a Formula One driver, he would have roared off the grid, sped away from the field, and driven straight off the track at the first corner after being distracted by an odd-shaped hat in the crowd. And if Donald Rumsfeld had been a cricket coach instead of a professional harbinger of suffering, he would have marked Sehwag down as a ‘known unknown’. The man is a global treasure.” Zaltzman’s observation comes nearest to the Sehwag we know but when one sees his performance over the years in the longer version of the game, one begs to differ. To dub him as just a fast athlete would be an insult to his marathon victory in Multan and Chennai. Looking at his average, one might argue that there are many with a better record. His Test average after 69 matches stands at 50.06, but that hardly is an indication of the murderous assaults he has dealt on his opponents. So when Wisden rated him as the Cricketer of the Year 2008, many felt the decision was a final recognition for this true champion of champions. Ravi Shastri, one of the three panel judges, writes in the 2009 Wisden Alamanc; “It would be such a shame if Virender Sehwag needed to be buttressed with figures, hugely impressive as they are. They don`t convey an iota of what the stocky figure of this Delhi dasher implies at the crease for bowlers. Fours and sixes come off his bat in rapid-fire succession, as if from a machine gun, and bowlers are out of their wits before long. A certain numbness overtakes them as they run up to bowl. And then there is mayhem.” Sehwag re-defined the art of opening in Test cricket and has records which have raised opening batting to a completely new level. Opposition often find themselves in hapless situations when Sehwag express rocks. But there is no denying the fact that his willow occasionally rubs salt to Indian injuries, as he gets himself out when least expected. Having said that, one has to accept the fact that it’s the unpredictability of Viru which the opposition fears and the world admires. He might not have the consistency of Sachin or flamboyance of Lara or power of Ponting, but Virender Sehwag has an audacity which no one else has.