'It is not all over for Virender Sehwag'

[Rohit S. Ambani]

We will miss you Virender Sehwag, champ! You had swagger and arrogance which many other Indian lack and are jealous. You played Cricket with heart, you talk simple like a Jatt, you hardly cared for consequences because each time you answered with your bat. All this was natural to you unlike today's wannable arrogant Kohli, wannable cool n careless Raina. You are very likeable outside the field too, you seem very relaxed in TV ads. It is very unfortunate that you never got opportunity to captain team India, 18 month tenure would have been nice like Anil Kumble, you deserved better. When you were growing up, you admired Sachin but fact is today kids admire and copy you man. You are very non-controversial (minus your press statements), people fail to club you in same group to which likes of Dravid, VVS, Kumble, Sachin are related. Dravid, VVS, Kumble got praise because they were highly educated and soft spoken, Sachin for his humbleness despite fame. But people fail to recognize you, unsung hero, because you are a Jatt first, Delhiite according to Cricket Pandits. I will miss you alot, it will be very hard to replace a impact player like you. :hatsoff:

[I6MTW]

He will be back. He's not over yet.

[Gunner]

IMO, he should've got a chance in the middle order before being shoved out.

[NareshK]

Of course, Sehwag could have made 300. But if you go by this logic, you have to keep playing him till he drops dead because you can always hope he will make a triple century in his next innings. :hysterical:

[Vanarp22]

:facepalm:

[SLICKR392]

IMO' date=' he should've got a chance in the middle order before being shoved out.[/quote'] +1

[Vanarp22]

NEW DELHI: Vowing to fight back to regain his place in the Indian team, opener Virender Sehwag on Thursday said that he was not contemplating retirement from international cricket. The statement from Sehwag came after he failed to retain his place in the Indian Test team for the remaining two Tests against Australia. The squad was trimmed to 14 with the selectors deciding against picking a replacement for Sehwag, who has scored just 27 runs in his three innings during the ongoing series. Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who has also been struggling to regain his peak form, was, however, retained in the squad announced by BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale. Barring the 34-year-old Sehwag's sacking, there were no other changes in the squad for the two matches to be played in Mohali (from March 14) and Delhi (from March 22) respectively. India lead the four-match series 2-0 after thumping wins in Chennai and Hyderabad. Sehwag's omission comes after his long-time opening partner Gautam Gambhir was shown the door, also due to poor form. This paves the way for India to have a completely new opening pair featuring neither of the two veterans, who have occupied the top two batting slots since 2004. Together they have scored 4412 runs in 87 innings and are ranked fifth in the all-time list of top opening pairs with an average of 52.52. In the absence of Sehwag, Shikhar Dhawan could get a chance to open the innings with Murali Vijay, who cemented his place with a gritty hundred in the second Test in Hyderabad, which India won by an innings and 135 runs. Ajinkya Rahane is another opener who is in the squad but chief selector Sandeep Patil had earlier indicated that he has been chosen as a middle-order batsman. Even though India registered commanding victories in the first two Tests, the opening partnerships between Sehwag and Vijay could produce only 11, 16 and 17 runs. Sehwag had failed to fire in five consecutive Tests after getting a hundred in the opening game of the home series against England at Ahmedabad in November-December last year. He was unable to score even a half-century in two home Tests against New Zealand. During India's last overseas tour, in Australia, Sehwag scored just 198 runs in eight innings. The rest of the line-up was expectedly retained on the basis of impressive performances. Save for Sehwag, no other batsman looked like facing the selectors' axe as they came up with solid performances in the first two Tests. Cheteshwar Pujara, with a double hundred in Hyderabad, was never in doubt, neither was Virat Kohli, who announced his return to form with a hundred in the Chennai Test. Among the bowlers, spin spearhead R Ashwin has been the most impressive with 18 wickets so far. Harbhajan, on the other hand, is trying to rediscover the vintage form that got him over 400 Test wickets. In the ongoing series, the bowler so far has five wickets in his kitty. That Harbhajan would not be dropped was quite clear when skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni stated that the veteran spinner was improving with every performance and had listed the difficulties faced by seniors while coming back. Young pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has managed to impress with his conviction in his debut Test series but Ishant Sharma will have to do more after a rather ordinary effort so far. Indian squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Capt.), Sachin Tendulkar, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ashok Dinda, Harbhajan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Pragyan Ojha and Ishant Sharma. @toi

Watch as Sehwag retires...:cantstop:

[SLICKR392]

[Desi Cartman]

So the case is that he can score only on easy wickets. So what are we supposed to do in tests played on wickets where the ball wont come, play with 10 players or get someone else to come in for him because the wicket is difficult to bat on ?

[vvvslaxman]

Sorry Sunny. Just like when you should pick the people at the right time you should also drop the people at the right time.

[Ultimate_Game]

Right decision and even Harbhajan should have been dropped.

[Crookbond]

Mohinder Amarnath must be burning inside!

[Crookbond]

So the case is that he can score only on easy wickets. So what are we supposed to do in tests played on wickets where the ball wont come' date= play with 10 players or get someone else to come in for him because the wicket is difficult to bat on ?

No matter what wicket you play on, the ball does come ultimately to the bat. :giggle:

[I6MTW]

Sehwag has a good 10 years left in him. He should improve his eyesight and better his hand eye coordination technique. He should come back in the middle order first and then open.

[rkt.india]

If u watched those games u would not be saying so.Whats the logic behind not bowling bhajji against england and ojha and ashwin bowl double the overs and as soon as tailender comes bhajji is back.I have seen enough cricket to catch those things.Even in the world t20 u could just see what was happening. And if u need more proof than bhajji playing the test series ahead of ojha u got to be kidding me.

You have mentioned this but not mentioned when he did not bowl Bhajji a whole session at Chennai on first day when he was not bowling well. The tactics you are talking about are to give his bowler confidence to bowl at lesser batsmen so that he is under less pressure and can get his confidence back. As a captain, you will always bowl an under performing and under pressure bowler like Bhajji when you think he will be better of bowling to not have that pressure. Against, good batsmen, he will have pressure when he is not doing well and no room for error that is what was happening with him in Chennai too when he had bowled 19 ineffective overs by half an hour before tea.

[Crookbond]

The only problem with CG is that he wants to have the cake and eat it too.

[urbestfriend]

Probably Viru should have been given a chance at no 6.

[Crookbond]

Is there some magic left in Sehwag yet? http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/current/story/623979.html

In many ways, it was inevitable, and yet it hits you like one of his many shots over the years. Looked at coldly, devoid of emotion and without looking at the past, Virender Sehwag's omission was predictable. The runs had dried up, the rope he had been given was long enough. But the realisation that the thrill you felt within as he walked out to bat will be absent creates a longing. Sehwag kept you on the edge of your seat, he made you look forward to the next moment. He was good for cricket and he was good for India, and we don't know if he will play for India again. He has been a mighty cricketer and he will stroll easily into a room reserved for the greats of Indian cricket. Without a doubt. But hang on, is this starting to look like a retirement tribute? There is a part of me that wishes it isn't, and there is another that fears we may not see him again. There is much stacked against him. Over the next 24 months India visit South Africa, New Zealand and England, against each of whom he averages under 30, and Australia where fifteen months ago he scored 198 in eight innings. India play away more than they do at home in this period. Of not inconsiderable importance is the fact that among the youngsters tried out in recent times, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have all shown acceptable levels of promise and performance. Now Murali Vijay has got a big hundred too. The temptation to look at a younger man has been rendered stronger. His chances of being picked for Mohali and Delhi would have resided in the hope that India's selectors wouldn't want to change a winning combination. I have heard that thought expressed many times and, quite frankly, have been baffled each time. It suggests that if the team is winning, it should be happy to carry along those that are not good enough anymore. No team should ever be picked on such a basis, for in the course of time everyone will then be entitled to be selected, even if they aren't delivering. Sehwag had to be picked based on his performance and not on that of the rest. I suspect this omission is also an indicator that Sehwag will not be opening the batting in South Africa this November. If he was to, he had to be retained, but quite clearly the thinking is that the next in line must feel at home playing for India before playing an away tour. In logic, it is sound. But sadly for Sehwag, it is a tricky time to be dropped because the domestic season is over and there will be little Ranji Trophy cricket by November. To force his way back he needs games and those are not available in India. So if it seems that the opening berth is now sealed (remember Gautam Gambhir will be in line for a comeback too), is there another option? And here the picture seems a touch rosier. Sehwag hasn't ever held back from saying that he wants a spot in the middle order. A couple of years ago, when he was in peak form, I interviewed him after he received an ESPNcricinfo Award. "Surely you accept that you are now an opener?" I asked. "No, I am No. 4? he started. "But No. 4 is not leaving in a hurry," I said with a smile, eager to see his reaction. "No problem, I will wait." he said. We don't know how long "No. 4" will play, for fitness will become a concern as time passes, but if for some reason Sachin Tendulkar is not on the flight to Johannesburg, India may not have a single batsman in the top six who will have played more than 20 Tests (on the assumption, of course, that Dhoni will be No. 7 on those tracks). Sehwag at No. 5, below Pujara and Kohli but above Ajinkya Rahane or Manoj Tiwary or another at No. 6, might be tempting for the selectors. Much, of course, will depend on Sehwag's will to continue; and its translation into a rigorous fitness regime. Players like Ricky Ponting, Rahul Dravid and Michael Hussey were extraordinarily fit as 40 loomed, and VVS Laxman's great discipline and skill kept him going. Can Sehwag recall the hunger, and that extraordinary ability for hard work, again? Age tends to dull ambition. A weary body rebels against being driven again. "The Eye of the Tiger" sounds good in the movies. But if he can summon the desire, there might still be some magic left. I'd love it to be so.

[Mohan470]

Probably Viru should have been given a chance at no 6.

:agree:

[bharathh]

He has been missing for almost 3 years. How do you base if you like someone based on a tv ad?