What’s the defination of a good batsman? The best answer is, a batsman who can adapt to all conditions i.e at home, as well as in sub-continent. For eg, guys like Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Saeed Anwar, Damien Martyn, and leaving many more. It’s because performing in all conditions exposes a batsman to the truest colour, on whether he posesses a good technique or not. On contrary, there are also guys like Sehwag, Dhoni, Afridi, etc who performs really well when given the opportunity to take advantage of flat tracks i.e pitches where bowlers don’t get much help. It’s acceptable for a batsman failing in difficult tracks while at the start of their career. But those who fail to harden their tehnique in difficult tracks even after playing for years and gaining experiance, are called Flat-track bullies. VIRENDER SEHWAG for me is the truest example of the above mentioned term. Dhoni does not come into the picture because he is relatively much newer to the international level, having little experiance outside the sub-continent.
Here’s Sehwag . a guy who have been playing for years, yet one can predict the outcome of his performance just by having a mere look at the pitch for the first overs, on whether the track is a good one or not. The guy is just full of flaws, with embarassingly no-footwork, no patience, a hopeless/no-good technique, and most important of all’SOMEONE WHO NEVER LEARNS ANYTHING FROM HIS MISTAKES’. But I’ll never dare to take away th good things he did in the past. He did perform brillinatly for India in the past, scored a triple hundred and thus became the first Indian to do it, and played good roles in many Indian wins. But that is past, and this is present. A bad patch is acceptable for a couple of months, or maybe some more depending on the past contributions . but not for years. It’s almost been a year since Sehwag have been following his regular cycle - single digit scores in 9 matches, 1 fifty in the 10th match, thus reassuring himself of his place in the team . and then repeating the just mentioned cycle.
For me, Sehwag’s good qualities are that he can dominate like anything when in-form(which he seldom does) and when he gets a good track, THAT’S IT! Take it from me, just watch his performance in varying conditions, difficult tracks, bouncy tracks, and against top quality bowling attacks . you then see the real side in him. That real side have always been covered up because of the fact that the Indian fans went nuts cheering him for a hundred on a dead Indian pitch, in the process completely failing to take notice about his performance in tough conditions.
Since he’s been selected for the World Cup 2007, I’d like to see him perform. But if he misses this last opportunity, I’m afraid it’ll be way too much and he’ll have to go, by hook or crook! I don’t hate or dislike Sehwag, I’m just telling my side of the story.