Veeru the force of nature.

[Bumper]

There is no destructive force in the world like nature. A "flood" washes cities away. A "quake" moves mountains. A "storm" bull dozes towns. A "Tsunami" swallows continents. No man made weapons can match the audacity of these destructions. Cant help but think that Veeru at his pomp, is a force of nature. You cannot stop it, you cannot hide from it. If you are caught in the middle of it, get down on your knees and pray. Having watched India march to 250/1 at tea with Veeru @ 150, I thought I'll wake up to see a 360/3 ish total with Sehwag dismissed shortly after tea for a 170. Boy, was i wrong! Every time you go "wow" when Veeru scores one of his mamoth hundreds, he reminds you that you aint seen nothin yet. A bigger one is just around the corner. After his 319 vs Pakistan, I felt that he had reached the pinnacle of his career & he could never get to these heights again. After all, players hit such purple patches once in their careers. Not Sehwag! He not only proved me wrong but got in the vicinity of such a huge score at least a couple more times. And now this 284, which is almost a century per session. Most test teams would do well to score 284 in a day. Take 5-10 overs away & 284 becomes a difficult score to attain. To think that a single batsman attained this score in less than a full day's play is unbelievable. Suffice to say, Sehwag is the most dominant batsman cricket has ever seen, even more dominant than the Great Viv. The ruthlessness with which Sehwag has slayed both pacers and spinners is simply unseen in world cricket. And every time he's got close to 300, he has humbled big bowlers. Akhtar paid his dues at Multan. It was Steyn's turn in Chennai and now Murali is feeling the heat at Mumbai. And if you happen to be one of Sehwag's sorry opponents on one of "his" days, realize that forces of nature are acts of god. Just stay low, weather the storm and hope for the best. Veeru, whatta playah!

[Sachinism]

:two_thumbs_up:

[dial_100]

Well written. And true legend, Viru is...

[Gambit]

Great read bumper.

[Lurker]

Force of nature yes Bumper but the most devastating ever? That I am not sure. Comparison with Richards are bound to happen but Richards did face much better bowling attack(yep a cliche argument but true nonetheless). It is much harder to smack a Lilee or an Imran or a Kapil than to smack a Walgedera. What I definitely credit Sehwag with is that he is devastating as well as capable of putting big scores, something you dont really associate with a hitter.

[Ram]

For a single player to score 284 runs in a day when his team batted only 79 overs is nothing short of staggering. There is no other batsmen in this world who defies conventional wisdom as he does. He's an entertainer beyond comparison and above all, a match-winner without parallel.

[The Outsider]

Good read. Comparisons to Richards are very much warranted and justified - but it's almost considered a blasphemy. I don't think Sehwag is any lesser a batsman than Richards, and certainly with a propensity to pile up bigger scores more quickly. A strike rate of 80+ in test matches is simply stupendous. As for Sehwag not having faced good bowling attacks - there isn't much in it once you consider that Richards did not face the best bowling attack of his times either. As for the rest of the cast that Richards faced it is very comparable to Sehwag specially when you bring in the spin duo of Warne and Murali, both much better than any spinner Richards faced. Heck, even the likes of Vettori, Saqlain, and MacGill were better than most spinners that Richards faced during his career.

[Cricketics]

Very apt title Bumper, and a very well written post. Top Stuff

[observer1]

I have seen IVAR,, Lara, Tendulkar and Sehwag. On his day IVAR could simply pulverise the opposition bowling and I thought I would never see anyone else better than him. Then Lara came along - he could cut, swing and dance his way through. Not as brutal as IVAR and Sehwag though. I would personally rank Sehwag as better than Richards once he crosses about 100. Up to that, he is about the same. But, once he is in the zone, his array of shots is wider than Richards. Is he overall a better batsman than IVAR - probably not, but that is nostalgia creeping in! SRT is not in the same league in terms of strike rate

[flamy]

And if you happen to be one of Sehwag's sorry opponents on one of "his" days, realize that forces of nature are acts of god. Just stay low, weather the storm and hope for the best. Veeru, whatta playah!

He did come into the team emulating Sachin :)

[Dhondy]

OK, be honest- how many of how turned the TV off when Sehwag got out? Sachin's straight drive, Laxman's leg glance yada yada...who gives a ***k? I know who I'd rather watch. Oh, and the same goes for Richards. I've watched him live, and Viru makes him look like a nun doing penance. On bended knees. All the rationalising about Sehwag ignores a simple fact. He's mad. Barking, in fact. No sane human being would reverse sweep Murali past his off stump or play inside out shots over after over with Herath pitching in the rough outside leg. A sane man would drive all over a Kulasekara peach, a la Sachin, stumps cartwheeling, like the facsimiles of the ones he cuckolded those Pakistani batsmen with a coupla months ago. Sehwag was flicking those same deliveries through midwicket. Stark raving mad. Makes you want to be officially insane.

[Bumper]

You said it Dhondy. The elusive word (yet the most commonly used) that I was looking for to describe this freak. A mad man by birth, a bad man for bowlers and a Bradman, for cricketing historians.

[Malcolm Merlyn]

and Sehwag does all that as an opener.........

[Guest Gunner]

I feel sheer disappointment when he gets out early. Sort of the same feeling I used to have in the 90s when SRT would get out early. Watching Viru bat makes you fearless too.

[dial_100]

Thats the beauty of Sehwag.... The plan always is, no Plan.... just plain hitting.. Sheer sight of him in the middle, and puff, you lost your sleep, aren't that tired any more. Its 4AM in the morning, you just wonder, why to miss few more overs...but when he keeps going like this, I even forget to look at my watch.. and next day he got out, I dont even remember and I fell asleep right a way.

[Malcolm Merlyn]

khinch de balla zor se ball ko maar bhagao ball ka ghar hai boundary vaha use pahuchao. this what he said in a commercial once...........and this is what he does evryday.......

[Dhondy]

One liitle stat demonstrates the value of Veeru to this side. He has so far featured in 71 Tests for India so far, winning 27 and losing 16, a ratio of 1.69. Of players who have played at least 50 Tests for India, this is the highest win:loss ratio for an individual. Dhoni, with 40 Tests, has 16 wins and 6 losses, ratio 2.67, and will probably catch up with Sehwag's distinguished record at some stage, but for the moment, Sehwag is the most successful Test player to have ever played 50+ Tests for India.

[Dinx - the Jinx]

Veeru, whatta playah! Bumper - what a writer!!! :adore::adore::adore::adore: Thanks for writing this wonderful piece.. I just watched the movie 2012 yday.. And I can relate to the act of nature like never before.. When Viru strikes, you cant even hide in space ships.. You just have to pray that the days gets over soon and me makes a mistake of throwing away his wicket..

[Dhondy]

SKY just showed a stat- he holds the distinction of scoring 5 of the 10 fastest double hundreds ever scored in the history of the game. That one man. The mind boggles.

[spectre]

The word i associate when watching Sehwag bat is - FEAR He really brings fear into the opposition, if he is there in the middle, there is no bowler, captain or team which will not feel the fear They know if Sehwag bats for 20 overs in a ODI match, its very well gone for them He has such an influence in the opposition, i dare to say, more than any batsman in the world If he in the zone, god save the opposition When Sehwag starts demolishing, it gets me goosebumps, a feeling that India are dominating another country with authority and bringing them into submission, a superhuman feeling