Published: Dec 09, 2011, 12:36 PM (IST)
Edited: Aug 23, 2014, 03:03 AM (IST)
By Nishad Pai Vaidya
A one-day double hundred remained elusive and unique even as the modern game drifted in favor of the batsmen with the emergence power plays, better bats, smaller grounds etc. The milestone looked like an unconquerable peak during the first 39 nine years of One-Day International (ODI) cricket as batsmen invariably lost steam as they neared it or were left stranded agonisingly short due to the paucity of overs. It required the greatness of Sachin Tendulkar to scale the peak and now his “clone” Virender Sehwag has outstripped the maestro’s effort by some distance.
Sehwag’s record-breaking knock may have come on a smallish ground and against a bowling attack which isn’t considered the best in the world. However, one must not take anything away from Sehwag as the degree of difficulty in getting 200 in ODI requires is a barrier that the very best in the game – barring Tendulkar – could not cross. Unlike Test cricket, there is limitation of time and overs and the batsmen are expected to take greater risks.
When one compares the two doubles by the Indian masters, there are a few similarities – in fact, Tendulkar once said that Sehwag comes closest to his style. The knock at Indore bears testament to that fact.
The most striking Tendulkar-like similarity on show at Indore was the upper cut. Tendulkar and Sehwag have stamped their names over that shot. They manage to get the body out of the way and take on the rising deliveries by giving direction to the whizzing ball. While Tendulkar plays the shot very fine off third man with all touch and fineness, Sehwag’s usually scripts it with brute force and in a more squarish area on the off side. However, the first six Sehwag hit during the historic knock was the upper cut and it was played as fine as the Tendulkar trademark. He managed to time it with delicate hands and it sailed over the heads of the slips. Although the typical Sehwag upper cut did manage to feature later in the innings, the one he played early on would have given him more satisfaction.
Secondly, some of the shots Sehwag played through the leg side were similar to the ones Tendulkar played during his marathon effort at Gwalior. Sehwag wasn’t looking to bludgeon it away and was merely timing it off the bat. Even when the West Indians brought their fielders into the circle on the leg side, Sehwag managed to bisect the gaps with minimal power and fantastic timing. Gwalior witnessed Tendulkar doing the same as he manipulated the field and found the gaps with ease.
Keeping the similarity or the comparison debate away, one can say that the two knocks personified the artists who scripted them. While Tendulkar’s knock at Gwalior was a textbook of batting with shots that signified him as the perfect batsman, Sehwag’s innings elucidated his evolution and development into a better player.
In his early days, Sehwag was often accused of being over aggressive. There were times when he would get off to brilliant starts sending the ball to all parts of the ground and would throw it away in a moment of indiscretion. That very quality would frustrate the Indian fans as they felt that he had a lot more to offer by spending more time in the middle.
Off late, the Delhi dasher has added the dimension of patience to his game. Although there are the occasions when he can make you tear your hair out, he looks a lot more calm and measured in his approach while batting. One can see that there is a conscious effort to spend more time in the middle and face as many deliveries as possible. He made those intentions clear at the World Cup earlier this year with the mammoth 175 in India’s opening game of that event.
The knock of 219 is an example that illustrates his evolution into a more patient batsman. He learnt from his mistake at Ahmedabad and waited for the ball to land in his zone to give it an almighty whack. There were shots that were played with brutal power but there were also those that were played with complete timing and minimum energy. The hand eye co-ordination -something that Sehwag is known for right since his early days – was very evident as the typical shots with minimal footwork also made their appearance.
Sehwag’s clarity of thought and uncomplicated psychology is absolutely out of the world. Even the greatest of batsmen feel a few butterflies in their tummy as they approach a historic landmark and here is a man who doesn’t care if he is on naught or 195, he will go after the ball if it is in his comfort zone. When he played the cut towards the boundary to reach his double century, it spoke a lot of this very thought process which has baffled and left every other mortal in awe.
The beauty of Sehwag’s achievement doesn’t lie in the mere fact that he now holds the record for the highest score in ODIs. It becomes even more significant when you consider the fact that he has snatched it from the hands of Tendulkar – something not many players can claim to have done. From a promising player in the early 2000s who looked up to and worshipped Tendulkar to a senior pro who has outdone his idol, Virender Sehwag has come a long way.
With this knock he has not only silenced the critics who demanded runs but has also sounded a very strong warning to Australia.
(Nishad Pai Vaidya, a 21-year-old law student, is a club and college-level cricketer. His teachers always complain, “He knows the stats and facts of cricket more than the subjects we teach him.”)
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