Is this the best the BCCI can give to Virender Sehwag?
Debut and initial troubles
It was way back in 1999 that a man named Virender Sehwag first had his name listed on the Indian Scorecard. He made his ODI debut against all-time rivals, Pakistan. Was this debut spectacular? If I say that his debut was disappointing, that would be an understatement. He scored just 1 run off 2 balls and bowled 3 overs at an economy of 11.66 without any wickets. Fast forward to 2015 and the same man now has more than 8000 runs on his name in both the ODI and Test formats and uncountable records that will not easily be broken.
We have seen many superstars who had great debuts and been very dominant in the early days but later become dormant. But Sehwag's cricket career was very different. Everyone goes from A-Z but Viru started with Z and ended at A. He struggled for a place in the team in the early 3-4 years of his career and it is only after 2002 that he was a consistent pick. We have many great cricketers around the world, and for that matter we have many cricketing legends in India itself, but what is so special about Viru?
Proving his mettle both by making records and pitching in with crucial knocks
There are two perspectives by which you can judge a player. The first is based on records. Maybe the guys who believe that records are the parameter to judge the worth of a player were pretty impressed with Viru's records – only Indian to score a triple century in Tests, fastest 250 ever scored in tests, fastest 300 in Tests, only Indian to ever become the 'Wisden Cricketer of the World' and the only International Cricketer to win the award in consecutive years, and the list goes on.
When you give these many unbelievable facts to record lovers, won't they be totally impressed? So, maybe that is why they regard him as a great Indian Cricketer.
Here is the best part of the story – Sehwag never looked for individual records. Why would you hit a six on 295 when you love records? What happens when a coin is tossed up? You get a head or a tail. Sehwag's batting is as simple as that. As a bowler, you either get hit for runs or you strike gold with a wicket. Imagine what would have happened if Viru went after records? Maybe we would have an endless Wiki page.
The other parameter people look at is crucial knocks and contributions in the team's success. Would you think a score of 83 would give you a 'Man of the Match' award when some other player like Tendulkar scored a match-winning century?
This is exactly what happened in 2008 in Chennai in a test match against England when India chased a daunting target of 387, thanks to Viru's flying start. He did it in 68 balls, by the way. How about the 201 at Galle? How about destroying Gul's rhythm in the World Cup semi-final opening overs?
So, even the guys who talk about the so-called 'Crucial Knock' as the only parameter for greatness don't hesitate in calling Sehwag one of the best Indian Cricketers.
Invented a technique of his owned and obtained astonishing results
People who speak about the so-called 'Footwork' in cricket are not really impressed with Viru. 119, 175, 195, 219, 201, 293, 309, 319! I am not asking you to find out the next number; these are some of the best knocks from Sehwag's career.
What about this so-called 'Footwork' issue? Why did it fail to prevent Viru from scoring all these? It is because Sehwag is no ordinary player. He followed a style of his own and delivered results no one could do for Indian Cricket. So, why do you even talk about it now? That was just part of the myth of Sehwag.
Deserves more
After 16 years of a long journey, how would you expect the end to be? Just let's go back to 2011 and imagine Sehwag's career 4-5 years down the line. The expectations were something and the reality was just the opposite. This is not something a guy should deserve, especially after giving the Indian fans so many reasons to watch cricket and made watching the sport a pleasure.
BCCI has always had problems with rewarding people for their worth. It happened to Ganguly, Laxman, Dravid and now for Sehwag. Maybe even giving Viru one farewell match doesn't make a difference in the result of the India series, especially when Dhawan is struggling to score in double digits.
What a fitting farewell match that would have been on Sunday!