Sehwag: Redefining Batting in Tests

[Dhondy]

I've no problems with numbers but they're meaningless when shorn of context and queries run with unwarranted and misleading assumptions. For example, Dr. Dre made a casual statement (Calling Varun thead) to the effect that "we can ignore variables as they cancel each other out". This was about as enlightened as Chappell's take on umpiring errors evening out.

Am I next on your hit list, Sarchasm?:cantstop: It wasn't a casual statement. I backed up that statement with a case by case scenario, which you couldn't be bothered to read. Might be rubbish, but you still gotta read it if you wanna knock it.

[Roshanrocks]

so sehwag is a great "test" batsman i have a tiny question? Is test cricket still the highest form of cricket? does a person's brilliance say...in a ODI not elevate him to greatness?

[Feed]

Sehwag has become a lot more patient now More... Sehwag has become a lot more patient now Vijay Lokapally He does not believe in wasting balls MY GAME, MY STYLE:Virender Sehwag insists he will not abandon his style of playing as it is his strength. NEW DELHI: There is a very thin line between success and failure. If you ask Virender Sehwag, it is a matter of how you look at things. “Half empty or half full,” he smiles. “A cover-drive for four or disaster,” he explains. “When I play a cover-drive, I play it to score runs. I don't play a shot to get out. So, if the cover-drive ends up in a catch at slip, I am spared criticism. If it ends up in the hands at covers, I am slammed. The shot attempted has remained the same, only the mode of dismissal is different.” Sehwag is making a point to defend his approach that is often described by critics as “reckless”. He insists it is “natural”. Sehwag does not mince words. “I won't change my style,” he maintains. “My style is my strength. It is my natural game. That is how I grew up and scored most of my runs. I have matured in my shot selection but will not discard my style,” he asserts. True, as Sachin Tendulkar had once said: “Sehwag won't be Sehwag if he was to curb his shots.” So, the team management made a momentous decision a few years ago that Sehwag would ‘NOT' curb his “natural” way of playing cricket. “I don't believe in wasting balls.” That explains Sehwag's mindset at the crease, looking to belt the fourth ball too after having punished the preceding three. What a transformation for someone who was rattled by the speed of the ball when facing Shoaib Akhtar on his debut. “I had never faced such fast bowling,” recalled Sehwag. A couple of years later, he was whacking the same Akhtar in the most disdainful manner. When he made his Test debut in 2001 in a Test in South Africa, he joined Sachin Tendulkar in the middle and was given a short sermon. Natural game “Tension and pressure will be there but don't add to it. Just play your natural game as you do in domestic cricket,” Tendulkar advised him. Sehwag made the bowling look ordinary in a sensational innings that launched his career in style. Sehwag is a rare entertainer. He does not bat differently, be it for India in a Test or One-Day International or a T20 match, be it for Delhi or North Zone or his institution. “I don't worry about the pitch”. The bowlers agree. “I do analyse the opposition”. They agree too. “And I am always confident”. How? “I have been lucky to receive encouragement from all my captains (Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, M.S. Dhoni). They have always insisted on having me in the team and that means a lot to me.” Sehwag admits to having become patient of late. “Sort of patient. Actually, I have become careful in my shot selection. I am neither over-defensive nor extra-aggressive. I curse myself if I get out without making a 100 after crossing 40. I love playing in the ‘V'. And I remain positive even after getting out after making just two at times. I tell myself that I took guard with nothing against my name but now I have at least two.” Oppositions do plan tactics. Keep a deep point, deep square-leg, a third man if needed. They bowl into his body, pitch it short; in essence look to cramp him. But he innovates. And sometimes waits. “It is a mind game and I am good at it. I create shots (and gaps) to beat the field. Run-making has become tough.” Getting Sehwag remains tough too. How does he handle success and criticism? “I welcome both. Praise will come when you do well. So, be prepared for brickbats when you fail. You are learning from both. Success prepares me well for the failures.”

[Sachinism]

“When I play a cover-drive, I play it to score runs. I don't play a shot to get out. So, if the cover-drive ends up in a catch at slip, I am spared criticism. If it ends up in the hands at covers, I am slammed. The shot attempted has remained the same, only the mode of dismissal is different.” so true