Virender Sehwag and other exciting openers in world cricket

Virender Sehwag and other exciting openers in world cricket

By Vinay Anand

Openers play a vital role in the team’s progress in a Test match. As Ian Chappell asserts, a good and attacking opener sets the tone for things to come – something top cricketing nations in the world have.

Let’s look at this exciting breed:

Virender Sehwag (India):

He is the epitome of endowment. The man is gifted with such natural flair and wondrous hand-eye coordination that it is hard to match. Being obstinate isn’t a good thing, not in the least in the game of cricket. But, in Sehwag’s case, it’s perhaps the best thing that happened to him and more so for Team India. A man with unyielding focus and a deaf ear to those around him, his approach – albeit effective – is sometimes difficult to comprehend. In spite of failing on several occasions, Sehwag’s approach hasn’t changed.

In contrast to the flamboyance of Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir is quite sedate. But, that’s what seems to be the order of the day, an immaculate amalgamation of flamboyance on one side and taciturnity (when it comes to batting) on the other. After the Sunil Gavaskar era, the Sehwag-Gambhir combine has been India’s most successful opening combination. Both of them have a staggering average of over 50 in Test match cricket and India owe their No 1 spot largely to the solidity a the start.

Tests – Average: 53.43, Strike Rate: 81.91

Graeme Smith (South Africa):

Graeme Smith has been the only consistent bat at the top of the order for the Proteas. After Herschelle Gibbs called it day from the Test arena, the opening place has been up for grabs and both Alviro Petersen and Ashwell Prince have tried to claim it. Nevertheless, since our focus is on attacking batsmen, Smith surely is one. With strike rate of over 60 and an average in and around 50, Smith is one of South Africa’s most potent assets. He has never been one of the attractive players to watch, but it’s his unconventional play and wristy flicks that gets him those runs. Smith seldom fails to provide the innings with impetus right upfront, thus laying a perfect platform for classics like Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla to take the innings forward.

Tests – Average: 49.71, Strike Rate: 60.15

Shane Watson (Australia):

Shane Watson, Australia’s blonde bombshell from the southern island of Queensland, exploded on the Test arena in 2005, but made the opening position his own with series of 50’s in the 2009 Ashes series. Australia’s ‘nearly man’ has reached the score of 75+ on numerous occasions but has converted it to just two centuries. Like Matthew Hayden, Watson may just strike at over 50, but that’s largely to a slow start to his career. He has played only 27 Tests and it may be a tad premature to judge his credentials yet as an opening batsman. Nevertheless, Watson’s aggressiveness and effect is a well- documented fact. Alongside Watson is Simon Katich, playing a role similar to his Indian counterpart, Gambhir. The Yin and Yang of batting, the duo complements each other perfectly.

Watson made his debut in 2002, but a series of injuries kept him away from the game and never let him exhibit his talent on the grandest stage of them all. He  finally seems to have come out of the ‘rock bottom’ stage of his career and is now blooming to be one of Australia’s finest all-rounder’s. His performances have been critical in Australia’s success in ODI’s.

Tests: Average: 41.50, Strike Rate: 50.99.

Tillakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka):

Like Smith, Dilshan has been, off late, the only consistent opener for Sri Lanka. He made his Test debut in 1999, but hasn’t come under the glare of the spotlight on the world stage. He was middle order batsman for the Lankans who bowled gentle off breaks. He was always an asset in the field. But, that wasn’t just good enough. He discovered his real potential in the 2009 T20 World Cup. Since then, he has never looked back. He smashed a century against the Black Caps at home in his first Test as an opener. With his unorthodoxy and drives on the up through the cover, Dilshan has won the adulation of all connoisseurs of the game and is now a formidable batsman, respected greatly by the opposition teams. He provides the perfect foil for elegant class acts like Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara to cash on.

Tests: Average: 42.44, Strike Rate: 65.65

Obviously openers alone cannot be the story of a team, and it is vital that teams have solid players to follow them. This is the answer to the critics’ argument about why the Windies aren’t a good Test outfit in spite of having a powerful opener with wonderful record in Chris Gayle. Openers are not the be all and end all of a team. Nevertheless a solid opening partnership does provide the start that invariably determines how a Test meanders.

Let’s say, “All’s well that begins well!”

(Vinay Anand, 17, has an uncanny eye for detail. He revers cricket – looking beyond the glamour into the heart of the game where true passion, perseverance and grit meet. To him, there is no greater joy than coming closer to the sport while exploring its intricacies through his writing and treading ahead to establish himself as a writer and presenter)