The Value of Veeru

[Gambit]

I can bet my bottom dollar had Veeru not been in the team or had he gotten out early, we would have stuttered and stumbled to 50/3 at the end of day today. Dravid, Jaffer and the others would have just shut shop and allowed the likes of Harris to be all over us. We have seen this happen so many times, most notably in the 4th innings of the B'lore test v Pak in 2005 where we just crumbled after Veeru got run out. Today, straight away he put Steyn in his place and put RSA, who should have been very confident after 540, on the backfoot. Smith was on the defensive and India not only negotiated the remaining tricky overs but also raised close to a 100 runs. This always allows Veeru's opening partner to bat in their natural fashion, which for 99% of Indian openers is to graft. Jaffer just didn't have to worry about scoring. Why on earth will any selector or captain even dream of dropping such an opening bat? An opening bat who invokes such fear in opening bowlers that these bowlers pray and hope that their captain takes them off quickly so that they are spared from the merciless flogging.

[Kartikey]

True, Viru is already our best opener since Gavaskar. I reckon by the time his career ends, he would have won more matches than Sachin, Dravid or Gavaskar.

[Dirty_South]

That SIX off Ntini was marvellous ! I mean to hit a SIX so early in an innings and to show D Steyn his palce , u need BALLS... !

[ICFtoday]

I agree too. Veeru is definitely one of the best test openers that India has had over the last decade. The fear and power that is hailed in this thread, to say is remarkable would be an under-statement. But just to answer the query regarding his exclusion form the team, I think the answer lies in the lack of consistency. I really hope he does not loose his mind and continues to keep his head over his shoulders because without a shadow of doubt he is one of the most aggressive batsmen India has at the moment and would be hard to replace. Or should I say, has been hard to replace over the last 2-3 years.

[amits]

it was a crime to drop sehwag from the test team only for his poor odi form. sehwag is the best indian opening batsmen ever. and gambit, u once called sehwag as "$ehwag"

[cochise]

It's not just the audacious shots he plays or the situation in which he plays them in...it is the ease of his demeanour and body language when he is at the crease. To be so unfussed and yet lethal at the same time is a blow to the opposition psyche. Which is why I am hoping he stays there for a long time tomorrow, because he will go miles for India in the series overall by this single performance by putting the saffers on the psychological backfoot.

[Desi Cartman]

His aggression reminds of another Veeru's aggression

[cochise]

But who is Gabbar? (Smith?) And who is the fella with no hands? Ganguly? (fielding, that is...)

[Desi Cartman]

But who is Gabbar? (Smith?) And who is the fella with no hands? Ganguly? (fielding' date=' that is...)[/quote'] ok I'll start a new thread on that and call it sholay of cricketers

[gs]

But who is Gabbar? (Smith?) And who is the fella with no hands? Ganguly? (fielding' date= that is...)

:haha::hysterical::hysterical:

[Guest HariSampath]

@ Gambo...I totally agree with OP.Exactly what I had been saying in the 1st two Aussie tests. But for Sehwag, we would have been 40-2 today ( Dravid would have played 20 overs tut tut and finally got out ) if we had lost Sehwag early. I had predicted early on, SA will get 540 and India will be 80-3...it could have well happened if Sehwag fell early, and this is his value 3 WICKETS at the top. Which dunce kept Sehwag out of tests ?? grrrrrrrrrrr...It was one of my happiest cricket days when he was included despite not even being in the 24 for Aus, and how he responded !! If that stupid Anil had selected him for first 2 tests , even if it meant dropping Dravid or Laxman, the test series result would have been drastically different.

[suraj]

Drop him for ODIs and retain him for tests

[Laaloo]

Drop him for ODIs and retain him for tests

retire him from odis please othewise these brainless selectors might drop him from test squad for his odi performance

[kumble_rocks]

If that stupid Anil had selected him for first 2 tests , even if it meant dropping Dravid or Laxman, the test series result would have been drastically different.

I agree with the OP and have always been a Sehwag supporter here and think that he was undone by the mad colonel. But , by suggesting that we drop in form Laxman or Dravid albeit out of form , you certainly are sowing seeds for a thought process that you probably don't know your cricket ....

[umpire]

well Sehwag not able to buy runs against RSA. He was strugling big time. He needed to be dropped. Sometimes you drop a player so that you can save his career. Sehwag desp. needed time off the cricket.

[amits]

sehwag should retire from odis & play only tests. also, it was mr defensive who cost us the 1st test against aus. the 2nd test was a result of open biased umpiring which helped the aussies win

[Guest HariSampath]

I agree with the OP and have always been a Sehwag supporter here and think that he was undone by the mad colonel. But ' date=' by suggesting that we drop in form Laxman or Dravid albeit out of form , you certainly are sowing seeds for a thought process that you probably don't know your cricket ....[/quote'] Everyone knows that it was the pathetic crawl of Rahul Dravid that costs us the Boxing day test. If we start out deciding that 6 players HAVE to be the batting lineup , obviously that is your thinking. I had always been of the opinion that a team has to be selected with a direct focus on winning a test match, and for that purpose Sehwag would have been a far better choice as an opener than an out of form Dravid who was scratching around. Yuvraj had to play as it was his next innings after a brilliant 169 in a crisis. Sehwag for Dravid would have won us one of the first 2 tests, but it was the crawl of Dravid that set the tone for we going down 0-2.

[Temujin Khaghan]

But who is Gabbar? (Smith?) And who is the fella with no hands? Ganguly? (fielding' date=' that is...)[/quote'] :hysterical:

[coffee_rules]

HS, it's a team game. If there are hitters, there should be crawlers. We don't want all 11 to be sword slashing knights. How in the world would you think of dropping Dravid for Sehwag? I am glad Anil has more brains than you. Sehwag for Yuvraj made sense shown in T3 and T4. Dravid's 90+ crawl won us the Perth test. Don't cast a one-eyed view on Dravid's style of batting. The man's got a 40 SR in tests since they started cellphone service in India.

[Guest HariSampath]

Sehwag who has a career average of 50+ with a S/R of 85, was the first cricketer to launch Cell phone service in a huge way in India , with Reliance :)