We salute Sehwag, with a smile and a shake of the head

How many of us so-called experts, always ready with our sharp comments, were all ready to write that Sehwag looked overweight and sluggish and almost disinterested on the field; were all ready to say that he should take himself seriously once again as a cricketer, should get fit again, should think about his shot selection – oh, my – all this and much more we were so ready to write… And, as the entire nation, and the entire cricketing world now knows, Sehwag just went out and did was he does best – surprise us all – critics, bowlers, umpires, fans, teammates, even Gambhir, even himself – by playing one of the greatest one-day knocks of all time. No, not the greatest, because the attack was weak and the situation not too tense and the track easy… but, we must remember that except for Sachin, no one had ever reached 200 in any one-day international before – in the forty years that these matches have been played. And not only did he reach it, but continued merrily on, and could have reached 250 if he had not holed out. [caption id=“attachment_152704” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“India’s captain Sehwag is congratulated by West Indies’ Pollard after scoring 200 runs. Reuters”]  [/caption] Yes, he is still overweight; yes, he is still not as quick around the field as he should be; yes, he must prove himself all over again in Australia; yes, he appears to be drifting at times, even in this amazing innings… but, when all the criticism runs dry, there is Sehwag, still stroking the ball to all the most unexpected parts of the cricket field. So we salute him, with a smile and a shake of the head – for he is simply unbelievable. When he is on song, the bowling has no meaning for him. I witnessed his near triple century against Lanka and Murali two years at the Brabourne – the disdain was even greater that day – the sheer nonchalant power with which he obliterates the bowling. Sachin in ’98 batted like this, or possibly even better but Sehwag in this mood is in a world of his own. Then, sadly, there is the loss of Aaron – so, so sad. We just cannot keep a pace bowling tandem going, Yadav and Aaron were looking the real thing and now the rhythm is broken. Yes, he will be back but it was right now – in Australia – where these two ‘twins’ of fast bowling would have proven themselves, Now we have to assemble a pace attack all over again – Zaheer uncertain, Sharma searching – Kumar eager, but still not quite there. A quick thought – if Kapil Dev had the same problem that Aaron seems to have now, would he have been sat down… or would he have just bowled through it? Are we being too protective of our bowlers, with a fleet of trainers and doctors and fitness coaches? I do not know the full extent of the injury to Aaron, but he was bowling so well and now he is gone, at least for now – and the question marks continue; and the uncertainty, which the team surely does not need, creeps in again. Boxing Day looms ahead, and new Aussie pace bowlers loom large, as Kiwi wickets tumble, the IPL raises its ugly head again, with Steve Waugh reminding young Aussies that the ‘baggy green’ is more important… Questions, questions… And Laxman and Sachin and Dravid are already in Australia – just see the wonder of a true coaching tip – Dravid’s bat was coming down from somewhere near second-slip, and it was pointed out to him, and suddenly he looks like the ‘wall’ again… Suddenly, he dominates the crease and the bowling like the Dravid of ten years ago. Glorious, glorious uncertainties…