When Sehwag Attacks

Posted in Cricket 11:22 pm by techtwist

Very keen to know what would happen? Let me put it this way. I’d be happy to just see him play. Not only me, I’m sure anyone would be happy to pay to watch him play. What a player he is? His instincts, more often than not, pays off. I guess he must have planned this assault as soon as he was questioned yesterday evening about the target that India would fancy chasing in the fourth innings. He positively answered saying anything over even three hundred is quite chasable. I’ve not seen a player as confident as him.

It is quite evident why Kevin Pietersen and his men tried to prolong their innings even though they could’ve scored at a brisk pace. England did almost everything right during the first four days to have a master hold on the proceedings of this Chennai Test. But then it took Sehwag just under a session to change the equation. He’s something more than a match winner. He’s an extra ordinary player. He’s simply a captain’s dream. He looked all set to complete a ton in under a session, probably the first to do it.

He sent the English on a leather hunt, be it pacers or spinners. He was merciless on them and never let anyone settled. Well, he never gave himself time to settle. If you ask him about it, he’d rather ask you,”Settling in? Whats that? Why do you have to waste loose balls and time?”. Thats the sort of player he is. Take this for stats. England managed only 57 runs in the post lunch seesion when they tried to bat India out of the game. But it took just about six overs to wipe that score off. Sehwag’s 67-ball stunner has eclipsed the efforts of Paul Collingwood and Andrew Strauss, the latter scoring his second ton for the game.

England tried everything to stop Sehwag, but nothing seemed to work. What he has don now is that he has single handedly turned the tables and has given India a good chance of chasing down the target. India now need another 256 runs with nine wickets in hand and an entire quota of 90 overs to bat. What more? They also have a partially settled Gautam Gambhir at the other end on 41 and he too okked comfortable at the wicket, except when he was facing the debutant Graeme Swann who is having a dream debut of sorts. He picked up Sehwag with the one that kept low.

Clearly, Chennai seems to be the venue where Sehwag does something completely unexpected. No one would have given India a chance when they started the chase. But there is Sehwag to change what others think. It is inarguably one of the finest Test innings one can ever see, an innings that has changed the game and the odds completely. Three cheers to Sehwag!!! Everyone should thank him for setting up a rather action-packed final day after a dull three days and two sessions.