Simply the best..... "Say Wah g"

The most fantastic thing about blogging is that we can search for anecdotes and quotes as and when we type on a particular topic or person. Starting to write about Sehwag I searched for quotes on simplicity, and after reading through the quotes from great personalities, I came to only one conclusion. Keeping things simple is the most difficult of all. Just take a look at this quote,

“In character, in manner, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity.”

Supreme excellence takes years of practice, which equates that to make things look simple, it is very difficult.

But where does Sehwag come into the picture here? That is because Sehwag is simple.

“As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.”


Sehwag has a weakness against the ball coming in, gets frustrated being tied up at the non striker's end, goes after deliveries outside off stump regardless of the situation, doesnt play the hook shot properly, has problems against the raising ball and fends it often( his solution to turn this of his hips isnt proper either because he plays it in the air more often than not) does not move his feet, and biggest of them all, Sehwag has a very careless attitude when he bats....

So how does Sehwag succeed? Over a period of time, everyone evolves into a different person than the one he originally was, through experience knowledge etc. People define that as maturity. Surely you are not the person that you once were? This applies to batting too...(remember Afridi in the T20 final?) On one end you have Sachin grafting for runs and on the other you have Dravid counter attacking with disdain at 32/4, while ten years back it would have been( and was) vice versa.

So how has Sehwag's batting evolved?

Experience?

Batting at Melbourne on 195 he tried to clear long on of a non regular bowler and got out....India subsequently lost the match, and people claimed that had this rash stroke hadnt happened, India would have won their first series in the Oz...

Thats a lot of experience/burden on your shoulders...

Two tests later, he goes to both 100 and 300 by hitting sixes of regular bowlers so much so that the six for 300 was the same stroke he mishit in Melbourne!!!!

Knowledge?

Teams dissect your weakness with alarming quickness. Dravid was so successful in the 2003 series against Australia with the flick through mid wicket that Aus kept two close in fielders at short mid wicket to prevent him from playing the shot. He didnt play the shot and his form and batting fell through in the subsequent series against them because of that.

Similarly Sehwag was successfully cutting through third man and deep cover in Aus that a permanent third man and deep cover was kept as early as the first over of a test match!!!.... that too for Glenn Mcgrath...

Result? Mcgrath was hit for 16 runs in his first over in the same area between the two fielders!!!!

People start to put Sehwag into the "arrogant" category. Surely, I would ask these people to hear him speak on something and then classify him. He is a simple man, who says simple things...."I see the ball, I hit the ball". Surely, it takes years for everyone else to talk zen like this!!!!! You dont call zen masters arrogant!!!

So, who was the most disappointed person when Sehwag got out at 293? May be the guy who illegally bet on him in Cayman Islands, but not Sehwag who just shrugged and said "I was happy I got 293"...

When someone says Sehwag is a master when the pitch is flat, people tend to disagree...But they are true, Sehwag is a master at getting results in flat pitches... There is nobody in the game who can take advantage of a flat pitch than Sehwag....

What are the chances Sehwag will displace Sachin, Dravid or even Sunny from their pedestal as the best batsman? Very slim....but we can say this quite confidently, while Sunny had competition from Sachin, and Sachin from Dravid, rest assured there wont be another to challenge Sehwag!!!!!