Sakyasen Mittra
Nonchalance. That is probably the only word to describe the legendary Virender Sehwag. Some may have that weird expression on their faces when the Nawab of Najafgarh is called a ‘legend’. He doesn’t have the runs, the number of centuries, the aura that legends usually do. But what made him legendary was the way he played… carefree, careless giving two hoots to the world… as he went on plundering runs.
The moment he walked into bat, the stadium felt silent, agog with expectations. It didn’t matter to him what the condition was, who the bowler was. The only thing that mattered was his sword-like bat which made the bowlers bleed. The crowd went berserk, the man was least interested – he could continue humming a Kishore Kumar tune after playing a flashing a cover drive or being beaten by the bowler. That made him special, that made him a legend.
Viru, as his teammates called him, came, saw and conquered, a middle-order batsman turned opener giving sleepless nights to many bowlers. No, 23 centuries in Tests or 8000-plus runs in both formats of the game didn’t really make him a legend, what did was his breathtaking ability to dominate bowlers in all parts of the world, the carefree abandon with which he played his shots. The crowd loved it, his team loved it, the opposition admired it and above all Sehwag enjoyed it.
“I had never got a double hundred with a six, so I tried for one,” he told the media at Melbourne after being dismissed by part-timer Simon Katich on Boxing Day (2003) at Melbourne for 195. He could have played any other way he liked – but he went for the six on the biggest cricket ground and perished and yet there were no regrets. “What regret,” he shot back, when asked by a reporter. “How many people get to score even one run in Tests… I have managed to get 195.”
Or for that matter that 201 not out off 231 balls in India’s 329 on a pitch at Galle where all the others were floundering against the likes of Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan in August, 2008. The pitch resembled the red sand clay usually found in Shantiniketan and every batsman struggled. Against Sehwag, however, the Sri Lankan bowlers struggled. He was like a Colossus who had made the pitch his own stage to enact his own one-act play. “Chodo yaar, maarna tha, maar diya (the ball was there to be hit and I hit it),” was his first reaction when he faced the reporters. “I never plan anything, I just go out and enjoy my game,” he had stated.
“The good thing about Sehwag is that the moment he got going, he created a winning opportunity for the side. He batted at a frentic pace and if he lasted a couple of sessions, the match would be ours,” stated Sourav Ganguly, the man who forced Sehwag to open. The rest is history now.
Coaches, can’t make a Sehwag, they are born. Batsmen like him are a rarity and Sehwag indeed was. He took batting to a different level on his day and the spectators always wanted more, such was the aura of the man. He was classical yet unorthodox; an artist yet a bludgeoner. The cricket world will definitely miss him.
When Sehwag made his international debut, there were instant comparisons with Sachin Tendulkar. But after his retirement, one can safely predict that no newcomer will be compared with him. Why?
Because there can’t be another like him.
When Viru blade did the talking
Runs Balls faced Opponents Venue Date
319 304 South Africa Chennai March 26, 2008
309 375 Pakistan Multan March 28, 2004
293 254 Sri Lanka Mumbai Dec 2, 2009
254 247 Pakistan Lahore Jan 13, 2006
201* 231 Sri Lanka Galle August 1, 2008
201 262 Pakistan Bangalore March 24, 2005
195 233 Australia Melbourne Dec 26, 2003