Virender Sehwag: 201 not out v Sri Lanka, second Test, Galle
Sambit Bal: Sehwag scored big and fast through the year - the triple century against South Africa in Chennai was monstrous and his 83 against England at the same venue was breathtaking and match-winning. But for me, his double-hundred stands out as the exceptional innings of the year because it ticked all the boxes for a great innings. Sehwag's innings had outstanding skills, breathtaking strokeplay and it won India the match.
It came against huge odds - India had been completely outplayed in the first Test in Colombo, and more than anything else, the Indian batsmen had been completely outfoxed by the spinners. Never have I seen them so clueless against a couple of spinners as they were against Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis.
After Colombo, India needed something absolutely special and inspirational and Sehwag provided that. The last time he had played Mendis was in the Asia Cup final in Pakistan and there he came out of his crease to the second ball he faced and was stumped. Here, in Galle, he had played himself in by the time Mendis came on to bowl. He had also played Murali a bit by then, but for the first five balls he faced from Mendis, he didn't leave his crease. In the sixth one he did and he hit him for a six over midwicket. Two balls later he cut a googly for four.
Sehwag was also outstanding against Murali. Sri Lanka kept six men on the leg side - three of them were on the boundary - and Sehwag just kept working Murali on the off side. He would open the face of the bat and place the ball between cover and extra cover, past mid-off, and behind point. I have never seen anyone play Murali that well. Sehwag was driving against the spin and he kept taking on the risk - because Murali turns the ball a lot. Though Sehwag hit 22 fours and four sixes in that innings, to me what was really special was the way he manoeuvred Murali.
He scored 128 of his 201 runs against both the spinners. Against Mendis he scored 70 off only 77 balls. That, in a way, sent a message out to Sri Lanka: the Indian batsmen can play spin.
Most of all, he won India the match almost single-handedly: 201 in a score of 329 - what more can you ask from your opening batsman? The next highest score was 56, by Gautam Gambhir. Sehwag also scored a quick 50 off 52 balls in the second innings. The next-best score in the entire match was 86, by Mahela Jayawardene, and that sort of sent a message that throughout the match he was on a different plane from any other batsman in the game.
Tony Greig: Virender Sehwag's 201 not out was the most incredible innings.
It was incredible in the first instance because he was on his own with the bat throughout that Test. It was a breathtaking double-century and it came against a remarkable spin attack. Bear in mind that Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis are two of the best spinners in the world, and when they operate together these days, they are very difficult indeed. All the Indian batsmen, apart from Sehwag, found them to be exactly that.
Sehwag scored 128 runs off the two spinners. The feature of the innings was that he was able to play with such confidence against these two bowlers who had mesmerised the rest of the batsmen.
As far as I'm concerned, Sehwag is, and will be for a while, the most dangerous batsman in world cricket. He makes it very hard for the opposition captain to set a total if a declaration is on the cards. He is one of those players who can turn a Test on his own. On this particular occasion, his 201 very definitely did that.
Sanjay Manjrekar: I am very happy for Sehwag because that performance of his really stands out in a season where we had some exemplary batting performances from some of the stalwarts of world cricket. That is the kind of impact Sehwag has on the Indian team and that is why I hold him in such high esteem. It always bothers me that the world doesn't stand up and take its hat off to Sehwag.
This innings was played in Sri Lanka, where the home team is a very difficult opposition. I have watched Sri Lankan cricket closely for the last five years and most teams, except perhaps Australia, have struggled against them at home. This time round, it was even more difficult because of the arrival of one sensational talent - Mendis. After the first Test, he had the Indians in a quandary. His mystery spin was creating all kinds of problems for the Indian stalwarts, except Sehwag, and to an extent Gautam Gambhir.
In the second Test, Sehwag got 201 runs out of a total of 329. Just two batsmen reached double-digit scores apart from Sehwag - Gambhir, who got 56, and VVS Laxman, who got 39. Sehwag hit four sixes and 22 boundaries in his knock. It was a typical Sehwag innings and what was really great to see was that while all the other batsmen had no clue about how to play Mendis, Sehwag was the only one who was willing to attack him. He actually went down the pitch and hit him over the top on a couple of occasions. I thought that was simply exceptional.
It was an exceptional innings from an exceptional talent. Sehwag is the deserving winner of this award.
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