'It is not all over for Virender Sehwag'

[MCcricket]

I have no doubt he will be back and at his best, he according to me along with Laxman are the greatest test match winners , there is no reason he can't play till 40

[Vanarp22]

'It is not all over for Virender Sehwag' Virender Sehwag was shown the door after a series of abject failures but former India cricketers believe the explosive opener is still not finished and will make a strong comeback. The writing had been on the wall. The new selection committee, has so far, not been scared of taking some bold calls. Gautam Gambhir was axed before the start of the Australia series while Harbhajan Singh was brought back with a firm reminder that no one in the team was indispensable. While Sehwag continued to fail and Murali Vijay found his footing in Test cricket, it was apparent to an even casual onlooker what fate had in store for the Najafgarh bomber. The only Indian to have scored triple tons in Tests, two at that, flopped in the first two Tests and was promptly sent packing. However, the legendary Gundappa Vishwanath, felt Sehwag deserved at least one more chance, what with the South African tour coming up at the end of the year. He reasoned India could have afforded to take another chance with the out-of-form senior, given they could not lose the series any more. "After playing over a 100 Tests, if a player gets dropped from the team, he would obviously feel awed. I feel if India were battling to avoid defeats, Sehwag could have gone. But now that we cannot lose, the selectors could have given Sehwag another opportunity. "A player like Sehwag is always one innings away from finding form - he is a match-winner but I also understand if the selectors wanted to have a look at another opener before the South African tour," Vishwanath told Cricbuzz in an exclusive chat. It is not the first time that Sehwag has been dropped from the Test team. He found himself out in the cold in the Indian winter of 2006 after a poor performance in South Africa but made a strong comeback a year later in Australia. Two months later he cracked his second triple ton against the touring Proteas. There is a difference now. Age is no longer on his side. But that does not stop the experts from believing in him. Former India captain, Ajit Wadekar echoed Vishwanath's views on a Sehwag comeback. Wadekar insisted the selectors were right in dropping the opener, much like Harbhajan Singh had been after a long patch of poor form but reckoned it would not be long before Sehwag found himself back in contention again. "Let's face it - Sehwag is not in form. Bhajji was droppped too but he came back well and has shown some return to form. I am sure Sehwag will make a comeback too and with a bang," Wadekar told Cricbuzz. "It was a very good decision because we have some promising batsmen waiting in the wings. There is Shikhar Dhawan and then Ajinkya Rahane and there is now a door open for them to make a Test debut," Wadekar, who led India to historic victories in 1971 against West Indies and England, shortly after taking over from MAK Pataudi, said. Vishwanath stressed there was still a lot of cricket left in Sehwag because his talent could never be undermined: "You look at the way Sehwag bats and you see why winning becomes easier. Even now, with him not doing well, the team is winning rather big - they have annhilated Australia in the two Tests. Imagine how much more ruthless the side could become once if Sehwag found his form back," said the veteran of 91 Tests. Sehwag's former opening partner, Aakash Chopra was however more practical when he looked at the selectors' decison. True, this was not a blow but questions always arise when a player of the magnitude of Virender Sehwag is left out - not very often in the past has Indian cricket witnessed such measures. Chopra was dismayed but chose to look at the axe with some perspective, especially with the South African series looming in the not so distant future. "It's not really a bold decision. You are looking at South Africa now and if Sehwag is not opening there, then you need to be prepared with good openers to take on their pace attack," Chopra told Cricbuzz. "I always felt the first two Tests against Australia were going to be the most important ones for Sehwag but he did not perform, so the drop was always on the cards. Even Gautam Gambhir was dropped from the squad after averaging in the 40's against England, so I am not too surprised with Sehwag's omission. It disappoints me as a former teammate and colleague but in the large interests of the game, I understand that call," Chopra said. However, Chopra, like Vishwanath and Wadekar, felt it would be tough to keep Sehwag out of the Test team for too long, with some crucial away tours in queue. Barring Murali Vijay, India have not really tried many other openers since Gambhir and Sehwag started taking the world by storm a few years ago, and Chopra said that very paucity of openers might force the selectors to re-visit their decision. "India will be away on some tours even after South Africa, so they may want to opt for some experience and therein lies the chance for Sehwag. I would expect him to play in the IPL and get big runs there - even a short stint at one of the English counties could do him a world of good. "The only question is whether Sehwag is willing to go through all of that and stake a place in the side again - that only time will tell," Chopra said. For now, though, the stage seems set for another Delhi dasher, the left-handed Shikhar Dhawan to make the top slot his own. The southpaw has waited long enough and Chopra is almost certain he would pip Rahane to the post: "Rahane is anointed as a middle-order batsman, so I think Dhawan will make his debut in Mohali. It is too early to call on how well he would do but I hope he scores lots of runs at the top. So, life has come a full circle for Virender Sehwag. After 104 Test matches, which included some of the best knocks ever played by an Indian batsman, the once-feared opener finds himself back to the first square. The grinds of domestic cricket await him, but the 34-year-old would want to start all over again, if only to end on a high. http://live.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/54643/it-is-not-all-over-for-virender-sehwag

[Junyfan]

he can comeback,he is class player

[1983-2011]

It ain't over till the fat lady sings

[GoldenSun]

I really hope he proves everyone here(including me) wrong and returns in style. For him to do so, he must have a good hard look in the mirror and say "What can I do to improve"?.

[1983-2011]

[GoldenSun]

Man, where do they make these? :hysterical:

[DomainK]

'It is not all over for Virender Sehwag'

I have heard that before.

[Vanarp22]

I have heard that before.

Basically more former India players jumping on the "bring back Sehwag" bandwagon

[Vanarp22]

Funny Sehwag Cartoon

[I6MTW]

First he should lose weight and reduce improve his hand- eye coordination. Then he should play county and domestic cricket first. If he does well then come back in the middle order first and then if he's doing very well then make him open. He has a good 10 years left in him if he does these.

[Dumbbells]

Sehwag has no fire left in him. Maybe he could be used in middle irder. He can't open our batting anymore. He s a middle order batsman to start with n he was forced to open our batting by sourav. Dinesh karthik is d only decent opening left and its sad that he s been ignored by our selectors.

[adi B]

:hysterical: cool pic

[DomainK]

Basically more former India players jumping on the "bring back Sehwag" bandwagon

But then they have been true before. They said "It's not all over for Sehwag" and he did in fact make stunning comebacks. And what do you mean "bandwagon"? Don't they have a right to express their opinion?

[koolkarts]

Tragic how he's been treated. Maybe yes he needed to be dropped but the manner in which it has been done, it is more than likely he has played his last Test for India. Very little Ranji trophy cricket in between now and SA. The only opportunity is county cricket. Kudos to Dravid too. A very honourable thing to do. The day before the selectors meet he goes to Cricinfo and says "the selectors have to make a call on Viru". Thank you for that. I'm sure Viru, your teammate for the past 10 years also feels very grateful for that. Whilst Ganguly, Laxman, Gavaskar, even Gambhir (who is competing with Sehwag) were encouraging him, you decide to knock down a man at a rock bottom of his career, It will be a huge tragedy for Indian cricket if he doesn't play Tests again, the only Indian to have hit a triple century (let alone two), and passed 200 over 6 times. The least he should have got was an unofficial "rest period". Thanks for the memories Viru.

[Vanarp22]

But then they have been true before. They said "It's not all over for Sehwag" and he did in fact make stunning comebacks. And what do you mean "bandwagon"? Don't they have a right to express their opinion?

Although that is true.

[Crookbond]

Tragic how he's been treated. Maybe yes he needed to be dropped but the manner in which it has been done, it is more than likely he has played his last Test for India. Very little Ranji trophy cricket in between now and SA. The only opportunity is county cricket. Kudos to Dravid too. A very honourable thing to do. The day before the selectors meet he goes to Cricinfo and says "the selectors have to make a call on Viru". Thank you for that. I'm sure Viru, your teammate for the past 10 years also feels very grateful for that. Whilst Ganguly, Laxman, Gavaskar, even Gambhir (who is competing with Sehwag) were encouraging him, you decide to knock down a man at a rock bottom of his career, It will be a huge tragedy for Indian cricket if he doesn't play Tests again, the only Indian to have hit a triple century (let alone two), and passed 200 over 6 times. The least he should have got was an unofficial "rest period". Thanks for the memories Viru.

:facepalm:

[Muloghonto]

Tragic how he's been treated. Maybe yes he needed to be dropped but the manner in which it has been done, it is more than likely he has played his last Test for India. Very little Ranji trophy cricket in between now and SA. The only opportunity is county cricket. Kudos to Dravid too. A very honourable thing to do. The day before the selectors meet he goes to Cricinfo and says "the selectors have to make a call on Viru". Thank you for that. I'm sure Viru, your teammate for the past 10 years also feels very grateful for that. Whilst Ganguly, Laxman, Gavaskar, even Gambhir (who is competing with Sehwag) were encouraging him, you decide to knock down a man at a rock bottom of his career, It will be a huge tragedy for Indian cricket if he doesn't play Tests again, the only Indian to have hit a triple century (let alone two), and passed 200 over 6 times. The least he should have got was an unofficial "rest period". Thanks for the memories Viru.

I dont think Dravid is that kind of a man. This has shades of comedy of errors to it, Dravid might simply have unknowingly written what we were all thinking and happened to have poor timing. Thats called '**** happens'.