Being an avid sports fan, I can't help it. Yet another post on the same .
By the way, if Sphinx was ever there for the real, he could be no other than Lance Armstrong, the six time Tour-de-France champ, the only person to achieve this feat. He literally rose from the dead, recovering from prostrate cancer and winning two titles in row. The Sphinx and the Superman rolled into one.
If there ever was rabbit- the looser( in rabbit-tortoise race), it could have no better personification than Virendra Sehwag. After 'Shoaib Akhtar Of India', the sobriquet 'David BeckHam of India' sits tall on him. Believe me, I am no Sehwag baiter or hater. I enjoy the site whenever he is in form. But whenever, mind you? This whenever is as good as a tiny drop in the ocean.
Then there is ugly sight of his running between the wickets or the lack of it. Apropos WC 2003 final, a year ago, Six Nations Tournament final in Srilanka two years ago, match against UAE and SriLanka in, Asia Cup 2004 and many more. To get run out inches short or trying vainly is one thing. No one complaines there. But Viru bhai make no extra effort. Forget the effort, he got out in many occasions ( WC final is one of them) trying to save himself from the ball!
Then his lousy ground fielding and unpredictable catching. He dropped as many as 3 catches last in the match. Problem is not of the talent, but of the commitment. His commitment in every aspect of the game is as bad as Ganguly. Ganguly atleast feels the pang. Sehwaag seems to be devoid of any concern or emotion.
Here are the scenarios where Sehwag may fail .
- When there is a movement off the seam or pitch. Sehwags plays a blind over there, swinging bat like a fencer.
- When there is a bounce in the pitch. He cannot hit a 6 over 3rdman every ball.
- He doesn't like good line or length. He doesn't bother taking singles, early in the game to tackle that.
- Pressure situations when you need a cool head. He becomes more reckless over there.
- Early wickets, when you need to dig in. If his wicket is not among the early, he doesn't know how to stay on the wicket and pace the game in such situations.
We can see there are only handful of situations when he can play his natural game. The problem is that he is not trying to adapt. Every single player in the team has evolved his game, except Sehwag. Nobody is making him realize.
Tendulkar had checked his cover drives, when he went through a lean phase. He learned paddle sweep to tackle Warne and Murli.
Ganguly had never hit a six in LOI till that WC 1999 match(against SL) at Taunton. He improved his on side game and treated Pollock, Nitini, Klusener with such contempt that it surprised even himself.
The most evolved player is Dravid. From a no hoper in LOI to the most valuable player in the team, he has moved leaps and bounds.
Yuvraj was once a similar version of Sehwag. Now he is the backbone of the team. Even Laxman is much improved player and fielder.
But Sehwag's refuses to budge. He is same as he was 2 years ago. The fit case of Bhains ke Agey been bajai, Bhains khadi Pagurai! Think tank will have to work hard to fix this . This take it easy attitude of the rabbit has to go.