Drop Veeru!
Watching Virender Sehwag in South Africa was like watching a mainstream Hindi film. You hope something different happens, you hope there is a twist in the tale after all; but all you get is the mindless, soulless climaxes that leave you more frustrated than the last time. Veeru came, he didn’t see and he was thoroughly conquered! Everything from his booming drives to his breathtaking upper cuts over the gully regions abandoned him when he needed them the most.
Everything with the exception of Rahul Dravid.
It was a pathetic sight to see Virender Sehwag with a bat in hand in South Africa. But the agony didn’t stretch for long as the man returned to the pavilion before anyone blinked an eye. He tried to hit his way out of form and as the failures increased, the audacity in shot making increased with disastrous consequences. It appeared as if Virender Sehwag believed that the only solution for his problem was to play more and more aggressively and prove to this bloody world that he is still the same Veeru that India has grown to love.
As a consequence of this thought process, India literally played with 10 batsmen in every game.
As with any batsman who is out of form, theories are being propounded all over the internet about the lack of his footwork, his habit of playing the ball in the air and his insistence on playing his ‘natural game’ even in the face adversity. We have a short memory. In the face of a series of failures, we forget that these are the same qualities that made Sehwag the batsman he is. These are the same qualities that gave him runs in South Africa (in his debut Test tour) and New Zealand where every other batsman failed.
So then, what’s the reason for his failure?
Being an admirer of Virender Sehwag, (yes, I still admire him!) over the past couple of years, it looks as if he has started playing for the crowds. As fans and media started to project him as the next Tendulkar and his reputation as an attacking batsman grew all over the world, it appeared as if he desperately tried to keep up with his image. If it wasn’t for his unbelievable hand-eye coordination, his attitude would have cost him dearly even on the flat Indian pitches. He attempted outrageous shots and got away with murder because of the state of the pitch and his enormous talent. The moment he stepped in South Africa and had to face a quality bowling attack on seaming pitches, all the hell broke loose.
The solution? Drop him immediately!
Virender Sehwag needs some time off the cricket. He shouldn’t have played as many matches as he did in South Africa and it would be suicidal to pick him when West Indies visits India shortly. As far as his game is concerned, nobody in their right mind would even think of asking Veeru to change his aggressive batting style. But if he stops playing for the gallery and starts playing every ball on merit, he will perform lot more consistently. He needs to understand that even to play aggressive cricket, one has to be professional and reasonable. A time off from the game will certainly help.
Look what it did to Ganguly and Zaheer Khan!
Everything with the exception of Rahul Dravid.
It was a pathetic sight to see Virender Sehwag with a bat in hand in South Africa. But the agony didn’t stretch for long as the man returned to the pavilion before anyone blinked an eye. He tried to hit his way out of form and as the failures increased, the audacity in shot making increased with disastrous consequences. It appeared as if Virender Sehwag believed that the only solution for his problem was to play more and more aggressively and prove to this bloody world that he is still the same Veeru that India has grown to love.
As a consequence of this thought process, India literally played with 10 batsmen in every game.
As with any batsman who is out of form, theories are being propounded all over the internet about the lack of his footwork, his habit of playing the ball in the air and his insistence on playing his ‘natural game’ even in the face adversity. We have a short memory. In the face of a series of failures, we forget that these are the same qualities that made Sehwag the batsman he is. These are the same qualities that gave him runs in South Africa (in his debut Test tour) and New Zealand where every other batsman failed.
So then, what’s the reason for his failure?
Being an admirer of Virender Sehwag, (yes, I still admire him!) over the past couple of years, it looks as if he has started playing for the crowds. As fans and media started to project him as the next Tendulkar and his reputation as an attacking batsman grew all over the world, it appeared as if he desperately tried to keep up with his image. If it wasn’t for his unbelievable hand-eye coordination, his attitude would have cost him dearly even on the flat Indian pitches. He attempted outrageous shots and got away with murder because of the state of the pitch and his enormous talent. The moment he stepped in South Africa and had to face a quality bowling attack on seaming pitches, all the hell broke loose.
The solution? Drop him immediately!
Virender Sehwag needs some time off the cricket. He shouldn’t have played as many matches as he did in South Africa and it would be suicidal to pick him when West Indies visits India shortly. As far as his game is concerned, nobody in their right mind would even think of asking Veeru to change his aggressive batting style. But if he stops playing for the gallery and starts playing every ball on merit, he will perform lot more consistently. He needs to understand that even to play aggressive cricket, one has to be professional and reasonable. A time off from the game will certainly help.
Look what it did to Ganguly and Zaheer Khan!
posted by Raju @ 9:58 PM
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