Congrats Sehwag 2.0

[Zeeshan]

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 / Features

Bangladesh v India, World Cup 2011, Mirpur

Beware of Sehwag 2.0

Today Virender Sehwag gave a glimpse of what can happen if he bats 50 overs in an ODI, and on evidence, the bowlers need to be afraid. Very afraid.
Sidharth Monga at the Shere Bangla Stadium
February 19, 2011

	By the time Virender Sehwag was dismissed in the 48th over against Bangladesh, he had made 175, and taken India past 350 © AFP Enlarge
Related Links Analysis : Normal service restored, somewhat Bulletin : Sehwag and Kohli sink Bangladesh in opener Audio/Video: 'Sehwag has the will to bat long' Players/Officials: Virender Sehwag Matches: Bangladesh v India at Dhaka Series/Tournaments: ICC Cricket World Cup Teams: India

To intimidate people, Al Pacino's character in Scarface made them "say hello to my little friend". Somehow six other words from Virender Sehwag, which sound completely non-violent by his standards, are having similar impact in the cricketing world. Cricket's Tony Montana just said, "I want to bat 50 overs." It is a simple thought, something every opening batsman says by rote, but when Sehwag says that it becomes scary. When Sehwag says he wants to bat 50 overs, you shudder when you think what if he actually bats 50 overs?
What if the man - his average innings lasts 32 balls but he has still managed to score more than 7000 runs at a strike-rate over 100 - decides to try and play anything close to 150 deliveries in a match? What if he regularly starts lasting till batting Powerplays? Before today, while batting first, Sehwag had faced 100 balls only on two occasions. What if he starts doing it more often? He has never stayed not out batting first. What if he does that often in completed innings?
Today Sehwag gave a glimpse of the possibilities, and on evidence the bowlers need to be afraid. Very afraid. It was fitting that the new Sehwag came out in the same country where four years ago he was trying to figure out just what his role was as a batsman, when he was a confused man after being dropped from Tests, a format in which he has never merited a drop. That was soon after the World Cup debacle. On that tour he got off to two starts, but threw his wicket away on both occasions. Four years on, now one of the most feared batsmen in Test cricket, Sehwag's intentions of making a larger impact in ODIs too have begun in Bangladesh.
The ease with which Sehwag did it today made it seem like all he had to do was tell himself he needed to bat longer. You could see he was fighting boredom in the middle overs when all that was available was singles. He even went 30 balls without a boundary, considered the oxygen of his batting, but that had little effect on him. You could see from his itching to hit that he still didn't think spinners ought to bowl in international cricket, but he showed restraint when Abdul Razzak came on to bowl in the fifth over. He played out four dots in that over before taking the single. Razzak's time would come later. The first time Sehwag tried to clear the infield today was in the 15th over, a six over cow corner to reach his fifty… off Razzak.
All this after he had got the World Cup off to a smashing start, with a punch through the covers first ball and a drive for four through the same region in the same over. You watched with interest just how he would rein himself in after such a start. How would a batsman who knows no boundaries limit himself? Not that he hasn't done that before. He did so to save the Adelaide Test, but then he had a challenge in front of himself, a larger cause of drawing the Test. He did that during a chase in Dambulla last year, scoring 99 not out when every other batsman failed under the lights, but then the conditions provided that extra challenge.
One-day cricket on flat tracks, like today, doesn't present that kind of multi-faceted challenge. It was the kind of track and bowling where the only man that could have got Sehwag out was Sehwag himself. He wasn't going to do that today, not until he had reached the back-end of the innings. In the middle overs, he fought the boredom with chips over extra cover for twos. He stayed alert to quick singles; on one occasion he ran a bye, and then the overthrow off a ricochet off the stumps when the ball had hardly gone far.
Once he reached that back-end, once he called for the batting Powerplay in the 35th over, every bowler bar Rubel Hossain - who used the bouncer well on a slow pitch - got the clip. Shafiul Islam was swung for six over long-on. Razzak he treated like a club bowler, leaving his crease every ball, and then deciding which boundary to clear. Powerful shots, late-cuts, lofts, all came back.
With the World Cup upon us, so is Sehwag 2.0. If he can continue doing what he did today, more games will be decided by the end of the first innings.

Sidharth Monga is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
Feeds: Sidharth Monga © ESPN EMEA Ltd.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc_cric...ry/502010.html

[Zeeshan]

Kayes and Tamim with one six _did_ have that screw u Sehwag attitude though. We just need more of those.

[Dilscoop]

Kayes hit a 6?

EDIT:

Fuzz Kayes had 7 4s in his 34! I guess the plan was to attack around Tamim, and let Tamim stick around? Instead of everyone playing around Tamim and have him go after it, like we usually do. I mean it was working. I was really hoping a 100 from Tamim, that would've decreased the deficit about. Tamim playing full 50 overs would've been even better. He has that in him to do that. He was edgy a bit at first, and he wasn't rushing it. He was trying to stay out there for as long as possible, so I definitely thought he would be there till end

[Zeeshan]

Originally Posted by Dilscoop
Kayes hit a 6?

Tamim.

[Zeeshan]

ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 / News



Bangladesh v India, World Cup 2011, Mirpur

'I didn't think about the double-century' - Sehwag

Sidharth Monga at the Shere Bangla Stadium
February 19, 2011

Virender Sehwag might have taken extra care to make sure he batted deep into India's innings at Mirpur, but when it comes to his press conferences, middle overs continue to remain conspicuous in their absence. He talks like he bats, and after his 175 - his longest one-day innings in terms of runs, balls faced, and overs elapsed - his reaction was: "I am happy that at least once in my career I have batted 47 overs." That was followed by a warning: "I was planning to bat 50 overs. I couldn't do that, but hopefully I will do so in coming games."
That came moments after a similarly forthright show at the presentation ceremony, where he said, "Everyone did well, other than Sreesanth." He also said this was a grudge match after India's defeat to Bangladesh in the 2007 World Cup, something not many like to admit. He also maintained that Bangladesh are not a good Test side. "They can compete in ODIs, but today they could not."
Inside the press-conference room, the fun continued. The mix-up with Sachin Tendulkar, which resulted in the latter's run-out, was delightfully explained. "We discussed we will take it easy on singles," Sehwag said. "He was calling, and I was not listening, and I was looking at the ball, yeah. For a fraction of a second I thought I had made a mistake, but you know when I went to the dressing room, he said, 'It's okay. What's important is to win the game for the country. It's not important who is performing.'"
In Christchurch, in 2009, when Tendulkar retired hurt on 163 at the end of the 45th over, Sehwag told him he had missed out on a double-century. At 175 in the 47th over, Sehwag said he himself didn't think of that mark. "Not at all. When he came back not out, eight or nine overs were left. When I came back, three overs were left, and I still had 25 to get. I would have had to play 15 out of those 18 balls, so I wasn't thinking of the double-hundred. My target was to bat 50 overs, no matter how much I score."
His own innings, Sehwag termed the most satisfactory "as far as overs are concerned". It was obviously a conscious effort to play a longer innings, and take fewer chances. One of the bigger challenges of such innings is the middle overs, when fields are spread. Sehwag said his plan was to concentrate on taking singles. "It was easy for me to rotate the strike. I think I hit a six on 49, and after that till 75 or 80 I was just rotating the strike because I knew I had to play 30-40 overs, and if I do that I would get a hundred. Still my strike rate was more than 100."
There was praise for the other centurion, Virat Kohli, and not just hollow praise, but analytical appreciation. "Whenever we spoke in the middle, we told each other to not throw our wickets away. I still remember against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy [in Centurion, in 2009], he was playing well, but he played a shot straight to long-off. After that he has scored six hundreds. Sometimes a little nudge is enough for some people. He is a quick learner, and a mature batsman."
The last question to him was if he feels any pressure from the pundits that he is most crucial to India's prospects in the World Cup. Sehwag's dead-pan reply was, "My job is to play and make runs."

Sidharth Monga is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
Feeds: Sidharth Monga © ESPN EMEA Ltd.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc_cric...ry/502030.html

[Tiger-ess]

It all became so histerical at one point me and my fam were actually rooting for shewag to break the worldcup record of highest runs. But pity Shakib had to remove him aar shomoy pai ni...I hate Shakib.

[dolcevita]

I hate sehwag ( when he plays against bd )

Posted via BC Mobile Edition (iPhone)

[Dilscoop]

Can we censor his name in this forum please?

"dehhe I said this was a THE reWange, dehhee, I get a the reWange dhehhe, the Srecunt didn't play well dehhhehe" wacko

[Night_wolf]

Wow!

[Padosan]

Whatever it is, we got to give credit to sehwag. He said he wanted to play 50 overs and he almost did it in the first game after he spoke that.

he is a straight shooter, not politically correct, can never be a captain material to shoot of words like this, but he doesn't believe in diplomacy in batting or talking. One thing if you note, when batting, he does not give an attitude to the bowlers.

i know i will get caned here, but i do like sehwag, honestly, wont BD also want someone like sehwag in their team as long as u can back your mouth with performances ??

Cheers !
Padosan

[Dilscoop]

Wont BD also want someone like sehwag in their team as long as u can back your mouth with performances

Hasim Amla FTW
Even Virat Kohil

[Trigger_Tiger]

Originally Posted by Padosan
Whatever it is, we got to give credit to sehwag. He said he wanted to play 50 overs and he almost did it in the first game after he spoke that.

he is a straight shooter, not politically correct, can never be a captain material to shoot of words like this, but he doesn't believe in diplomacy in batting or talking. One thing if you note, when batting, he does not give an attitude to the bowlers.

i know i will get caned here, but i do like sehwag, honestly, wont BD also want someone like sehwag in their team as long as u can back your mouth with performances ??

Cheers !
Padosan

^Mostly agreed !

In 2008/2009 Tamim said he would tweak his game a bit and bat longer...and thank god he does, and the last match is further proof that he IS trying to do that on a regular basis.

Its like Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist or Sanath Jaysuriya and Romesh Kaluwitaran deciding to go prolong their innings would result in certain end to any game in the very first innings. Sehwag did play brilliantly, nothing to take away form it. He does not give attitude to the bowlers, he just spanks them, irrespective of who they are, be it Kenya or Australia.

The only thing that people might translate to attitude is his complete unfriendly behavior and sometimes uncalled for rude bluntness.

A scary thought to have him transform this way now for any team it is. Good for him and India ! Little can we care about it, we can only appreciate and prepare to counter it in future meetings.

Good on him. Hope more aggressors can follow suit!

[Shaan]

I found Tamim and Kayes more eyecatching than Sehwag, also considering our bowlers MUA marka bowling, where Kayes and Tamim faced accuracy and smart bowling from Zaheer, Munaf, Harbahajan. SO I still don't give a damn credit to Sehwag !!

[Fazal]

Beta ekta motu alu. Kaam chora... run neyee chai na... injury-er acting korey sub runner neye khele..tendu-key runout koreyee.....fielding faki dey.... Shahl... first play all phase of the game then talk about revenge. Beta kaam chor fakibaaaz.

[Prithviraj]

Originally Posted by Shaan
I found Tamim and Kayes more eyecatching than Sehwag, also considering our bowlers MUA marka bowling, where Kayes and Tamim faced accuracy and smart bowling from Zaheer, Munaf, Harbahajan. SO I still don't give a damn credit to Sehwag !!

Thanks.. I have been waiting for your appraisal comment..for long....

[DJ Sahastra]

The first installment of Sehwag 2.0 worked well but i want him to stay at 1.0, atleast as long as we have Sachin 5.0, Kohli 1.0 and Dhoni 2.0 and Yuvraj 2.0 .

He should look to bat 30 overs and go bonkers, instead of conserving energy and cutting down on shots to play the entire 50 overs.

[DJ Sahastra]

Originally Posted by Fazal
Beta ekta motu alu. Kaam chora... run neyee chai na... injury-er acting korey sub runner neye khele..tendu-key runout koreyee.....fielding faki dey.... Shahl... first play all phase of the game then talk about revenge. Beta kaam chor fakibaaaz.

[Dilscoop]

Originally Posted by DJ Sahastra
The first installment of Sehwag 2.0 worked well but i want him to stay at 1.0, atleast as long as we have Sachin 5.0, Kohli 1.0 and Dhoni 2.0 and Yuvraj 2.0 .

He should look to bat 30 overs and go bonkers, instead of conserving energy and cutting down on shots to play the entire 50 overs.

Sigh, you guys are so lucky that we can even decide who should bat 50 overs. We'd be happy even if Kayes batted 50 overs. It would be same as Naeem and Riyad and Razzak coming batting at the end, from 30 overs.

[Shaan]

Originally Posted by Prithviraj
Thanks.. I have been waiting for your appraisal comment..for long....

LOL..The way our Razzak gave to Sehwag all lollipops and Shafiul short pitches Mitai/mua
I guess if Afridi was there he would have done another worldrecord 100 from 25 balls yesterday ( our bowling was really per below yesterday !!

[Padosan]

Originally Posted by Shaan
I found Tamim and Kayes more eyecatching than Sehwag, also considering our bowlers MUA marka bowling, where Kayes and Tamim faced accuracy and smart bowling from Zaheer, Munaf, Harbahajan. SO I still don't give a damn credit to Sehwag !!

i have no complaints, i will take this ugly looking 175(which i don't agree in the first place, his punches and sixes were good cricket shots) than a beautiful looking 50 .
175 is no fluke. It did the job for India.

I noticed one thing, towards the end of Indian innings, Sakib came in and started bowling wide of offstump/full length deliveries, Indian batsmen were finding it difficult to score, not just going for shots, but even singles, why did they not think it before when sehwag/kohli took the batting power play ??

[Zeeshan]

Oh guys please stop complaining about Sehwag getting mowas from bowlers which he dispatched easily and he is only good against poor bowling. We are gonna play Ireland next, but how many of these players will actually score 175? Give credit where it is due.

[mehedi]

Originally Posted by Fazal
Beta ekta motu alu. Kaam chora... run neyee chai na... injury-er acting korey sub runner neye khele..tendu-key runout koreyee.....fielding faki dey.... Shahl... first play all phase of the game then talk about revenge. Beta kaam chor fakibaaaz.

very good sense of humor bro, couldn't stop myself from laughing out loud

by the way Sehwag did play really well , running between the wicket needs to improve though

[Shaan]

Originally Posted by Padosan
i have no complaints, i will take this ugly looking 175(which i don't agree in the first place, his punches and sixes were good cricket shots) than a beautiful looking 50 .
175 is no fluke. It did the job for India.

I noticed one thing, towards the end of Indian innings, Sakib came in and started bowling wide of offstump/full length deliveries, Indian batsmen were finding it difficult to score, not just going for shots, but even singles, why did they not think it before when sehwag/kohli took the batting power play ??

Relax bro, I still think Sehwag is match winner and I don't think his 175 was fluke, he is a caliber of himself !!
I was just frustrate by our bowlers, they seemed like had no plan !! Shehwag took advantage of those !!