Sehwag aiming for 100 Tests

[Karan114]

Virender Sehwag aiming for 100 Tests Cricinfo staff February 19, 2010 Virender Sehwag, the Indian opener, has said he aims to play 100 Tests before his retirement and wishes to bat at No.4, even though he may have to wait until Sachin Tendulkar, who occupies that slot, ends his career. Sehwag was speaking at the ESPNcricinfo Awards ceremony in Jaipur, where he won the prize for best Test innings for the second year running. His audacious 293 against Sri Lanka in Mumbai was chosen over four other nominations shortlisted for the award. "I want to play 100 Test matches and once I have done that, I may retire from Test cricket," Sehwag said. "I would love to bat at number four. I know I would not get that till Sachin retires. But I can wait. "I still would like to bat in the middle order. It's difficult to field one-and-half days and then come out to bat in 10 minutes. When you bat at No. 6 like (MS) Dhoni, it allows you some rest. I have been successful as an opener but who knows, maybe I would have been more successful in the middle order." Sehwag's brutal innings included 40 fours and seven sixes, and set up an innings win for India, propelling them to the No.1 ranking in Tests. He had tremendous success in 2009 - an average of 108.98 in six Tests - and in the four Tests he's played this year, he's already managed two centuries. Sehwag said his form would only get better in the years to come. "I'm 31 and I think I'm playing well. And I would get only better in the next three-four years." Sehwag defended his naturally aggressive approach to batting, saying there were risks involved even if he opted to play more cautiously. "People say I take too many risks. But the fact is, there is risk involved in every shot. You can get out trying to defend a ball as well. At times, people tell me to leave ball outside the off-stump. But some of them can jag back and get you out if you don't play shots. I think if you think so much, you simply cannot bat," he said. "In my case, it would become risky if I try to become defensive, since my technique is not that good. I think in a different way. When I grew up, I tried to score off every ball, be it a 10-over-match, a 20-over or even a Test match. If I stay in the wicket for say about 30 minutes, I want to make the most of it and score maximum runs possible. You never know when you get out, try to score as much possible before that." http://www.cricinfo.com/awards2009/content/story/449124.html

[Gunner_Mania]

"In my case, it would become risky if I try to become defensive, since my technique is not that good. I think in a different way. When I grew up, I tried to score off every ball, be it a 10-over-match, a 20-over or even a Test match. If I stay in the wicket for say about 30 minutes, I want to make the most of it and score maximum runs possible. You never know when you get out, try to score as much possible before that."

Simple. Unclutterd thinking.

[vvvslaxman]

Will BCCI allow him to?

[gaurav92]

He will play more than 120 tests for India, till 38 may be

[vvvslaxman]

No.. let him play as an opener. I know it is very tough. I can see what he means. But his presence at the top is much more intimidating to the opposition than when he is in the middle.

[Sachinism]

Why does he wanna bat at 4. Tell him to keep sthum and bat at 1

[c_vikas2000]

He will play more than 120 tests for India' date=' till 38 may be[/quote'] he might not b e able to play till 38...because it will be difficult to survive him with poor reflexes without being technically sound... He definitely deserved to complete 10000 test runs for the way he has played his cricket.... good luck to him, may god give him longer cricketing life to serve India...we as a Fans owe a lot to him for entertaining us...

[Dhondy]

Best innings two years in a row by Sehwag. Kind of telling, innit?

[vvvslaxman]

30/31 is the prime age for most players. Vengsarkar, Dravid, Kallis are few examples. Bridge between maturity and good reflexes. Sehwag is going through his peak. Gauti already reached his peak which is good.

[patriot]

"I'm 31 and I think I'm playing well. And I would get only better in the next three-four years."

Thank you Sir. 4 more years of incremental carnage and hopefully more crushing victories for India. :yay:

[Texan]

If BCCI keeps playing just 4 tests per year, he will have to hang around for 6 more years.

[akshayxyz]

Most amazing thing about Sehwag is that - his way of thinking / execution - is not taught, and may be discouraged in almost all of the indian schools (cricket or not). And yet his achievements are at par with (in some cases beyond) those of 'trained'.

[coffee_rules]

24 more tests, if we have 6 tests per year on an average, he can hope to be around 4-5 years until he's 35. Rahane or M Vijay would probably push him down to #4 as he so much wishes to do. If he does what he does to the #1 test bowler, Think what he can do to mediocre spinners that most team employ these daya. Absolute carnage.

[vvvslaxman]

It's difficult to field one-and-half days and then come out to bat in 10 minutes.

:cantstop: Poor veeru. He has given an estimate of 1.5 days which is like 135 overs. Hope our bowlers try to bowl teams inside one day.

[ViruRulez]

I would like 125-150 tests too if that is possible :P

[Feed]

When Sachin retires I want to bat at No 4: Sehwag He is one of most destructive batsmen in contemporary cricket, and all his achievements have come as an opener. Yet, surprisingly, Virender Sehwag revealed that he would like to bat in the middle order. More... 'I would love to bat in the middle order' Harish Kotian in Jaipur He is one of most destructive batsmen in contemporary cricket, and all his achievements have come as an opener. Yet, surprisingly, Virender Sehwag revealed that he would like to bat in the middle order. Initially billed as a player strictly suited for limited-overs cricket, he has plundered 6,312 runs in 71 Tests as an opener, at an average of 54.88 and an amazing strike rate of 81.89. His successes have come in all conditions and against all opposition, and include 18 hundreds and 19 half-centuries. But, amazingly, he desires to play in the middle order; he believes that it is a bit easier batting in that slot since middle order batsmen get time to relax ahead of their turn. "I would love to bat in the middle order because it is difficult to field for one-and-half days and then open the innings after a ten-minute break. I also want to bat at number six like [Mahendra Singh] Dhoni, so I can also get two hours to rest. That way, even my back would be fine and my exhaustion would go away too, which would help me score more runs and play bigger innings," Sehwag said at the ESPNcricinfo awards in Jaipur on Friday. Asked whether he would have achieved as much success in the middle order, he replied: "Maybe, I would have scored more runs in the middle order. Definitely, I would have got opportunities to score runs in the middle order, because the batsmen who have batted after me in the middle order have also scored lot of runs and it is not that they have not had chances to bat." The dashing opener won the Test batting prize for the second straight year for his blistering innings of 293 against Sri Lanka in Mumbai in December. And fully aware that it is difficult to break into the supremely talented Indian middle order comprising greats like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, the Delhi opener believes his chance will come soon, when any one of them hangs his boots. Asked which position he would love to bat at, his reply was instant: "I want to bat at number four." He further added, though in a lighter vein, that he is just waiting for his hero and mentor to quit Test cricket so that he can take his place. "But till he retires I don't think I will get a chance. I am just waiting for him to retire [smiles]. And when he does retire I would immediately want to bat at number four after him." Despite achieving so much success and batting in the same fashion as Tendulkar used to in his prime, Sehwag still believes he cannot be compared with the master batsman. "I don't think I am on the same level as Tendulkar. It is not only me, but every child in the country wants to become Sachin Tendulkar when he grows up. But I don't think that is possible because the number of records he has broken, no one will be able to match it, not only from India but anywhere in the world. No one will break his records, I am sure," he said. The 31-year-old also made an astonishing disclosure that he has never gone and inspected the pitch ahead of any match. "I have never seen the wicket in my life before a Test or ODI. Even when I became the captain of the Indian team I never went and saw the wicket. So somebody asked if you have not seen the team how will you pick your team? And I said that if you are playing in South Africa, you will play with three fast bowlers and a spinner, and if you are playing in India there is the option that you can play two fast bowlers and two spinners. "But if I see the wicket I say to myself, 'Okay, this is a flat track and I have to start scoring from the first ball and maybe I would make a mistake and get out'. At the same time, I am thinking the whole night that it is a seaming track and tomorrow morning my tactics have to be good and my feet should be moving then only I will survive. "It is rubbish for me, I have never seen wickets. I just think I am going to face the four bowlers and in those four bowlers no one can get me out," quipped the batting genius. Sehwag pointed out that playing outrageous shots does not count as "risky shots" in his dictionary. "I think there is a risk in every shot. Even if you defend you can get out if the balls goes on to your stumps. They say that you must not play at deliveries outside the off-stump, but if that same delivery comes back in you can get bowled, and at the same time if you play a shot also you can get out. "So if you think about risk when going out to bat, you can never bat well. I just go out in the middle thinking that I will play my shots and I don't care whether I get out or not playing the shot because it is not a risky shot for me. "I know I can hit easily over extra cover, so it is not a risk for me; but, maybe, for someone else that same shot is a risky shot. Maybe, for me the defensive shot is a risky shot, because my technique is not that good and I can get out because I don't get behind the line of the ball. "So the definition of risk is different for every batsman. If I go out to bat thinking that if I play that particular shot I will get out, it becomes a risk thinking about it. That is why I don't care about risks; I just see the ball and hit it," he added. His mantra when he bats in the middle is quite simple. "I look to score off every ball. My thinking is that if you stay at the wicket for 30 minutes, then try to score as much as you can in those 30 minutes."

[Feed]

Virender Sehwag mulls retirement after 100 Tests There is bad news for Virender Sehwag fans. The dashing batsman could retire after reaching the milestone of 100 Tests. More... Virender Sehwag mulls retirement after 100 Tests Subhash Rajta, Hindustan Times Jaipur, February 19, 2010 There is bad news for Virender Sehwag fans. The dashing batsman could retire after reaching the milestone of 100 Tests. "I want to play 100 Tests and then retire," he said. Given that he has already played 76, the milestone doesn't appear too far away. But before he calls it quits, Sehwag wants to fulfil an ambition he has been nurturing for long — to bat in the middle order. For someone with a record as spectacular as his at the top of the order, wanting to swap his position might sound crazy. But it's logical for Sehwag. “It's not easy to get back to open the innings in ten minutes after spending one-and-a-half-days in the field. I would like to go in like (MS) Dhoni at number six. Who knows I would have scored more in the middle order,” said Sehwag during the Cricinfo awards, where he was given the best batting performance of the year award for the 293-run knock against Sri Lanka. Sehwag didn't shy away from spelling out the position he wanted in the middle order. “I want to bat at number four,” he said with a chuckle. “I know it's not available right now, but I am ready to wait until Sachin (Tendulkar) calls it a day.” Sehwag also shed light on his approach towards batting that appears fraught with risks. “I play the way I do because for me the pleasure of scoring runs is far bigger than scoring centuries. That's why I don't slow down even when I am close to hundred or bigger milestones,” he said. He didn't agree that his batting was fraught with risks. “I think ‘risk’ is pretty subjective. Maybe defending the ball is more risky for me than whacking it away as my technique is not that good. “There's risk in every ball you face and every shot you hit. You don't know which ball will get you, so it's better to score as many runs as possible before you get that delivery,” he said. All he does ahead of going out to play is some deep breathing. “I don't even see the wicket before going out to play. I think if I see the wicket, it might change my thought process and I might try and play according to the wicket. It doesn't work for me that way,” he said. On his approach to an innings, Sehwag said he identified the weaker bowlers and went after them. “Once the bowler I think can get me out are out of the way, I try to get maximum runs from the weaker bowlers,” was the matter-of-fact explanation.

[Ram]

:(( He's already played 76. He says he wants to bat in the middle order after Sach retires, but at this rate, it looks as though he might retire before Sachin. :hmmm:

[Ram]

On a different topic, Sehwag's audacious batting style has forced some of the biggest cricketing minds to re-think the limits of what is possible when it comes to batting. Till now, batting has always been defined by mostly survival instincts, followed by attacking instincts. The priority till now has been wicket-preservation first, attack next. Sehwag's batting has changed all that and forced batsmen all over the world to mull if they're putting artificial restrictions on their batting abilities. I am wondering if we conduct a proper scientific study to figure out the different probabilities of a batsmen related to him getting dismissed playing attacking or defensive strokes, it will throw a lot more light on this. My prediction is that, going forward, as more and more batsmen explore into realms of what is possible with their batting, their batting will get more audacious, the scores higher and higher. It might even reach a point when we might have to fundamentally re-think the rules of the game to restore some sense of balance b/w bat and ball.

[Zero_Unit]

now who will smack those naughty bowlers from ball 1 :(