Have we seen the last of Sehwag in international cricket?

At what point did it become so easy to write off Virender Sehwag?

Just yesterday, former England opener Geoffrey Boycott said that we may have seen the last of Sehwag on the international scene. He isn’t included in the 30-member probables list for the Champions Trophy either. Others mention that his fitness is lacking, still more wonder whether he is hungry for more because the path back to Indian team is littered with nothing but pain.

Sehwag has never come to love pain — unlike Rahul Dravid, Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar. They’ll probably have withdrawal pangs if they stopped going to the gym or turning up in the nets. But not Sehwag – despite the 8586 Test runs he has in his kitty, he’s never been one to hit the trenches at the first sign of danger. He’ll wait until he is sure the missile is headed right for him — only then will he take action.

In a column written by Greg Chappell in the Hindu shortly after Sehwag was dropped from India’s starting XI during the World T20 tournament in Sri Lanka, the former India coach highlighted Sehwag’s work ethic.

“What I soon learned about him was that Viru did not want to dedicate himself to taking his talent to its zenith. He was happy to turn up and play and accept what came his way. No amount of cajoling from me could shift him from his insouciant way. This often happens to those with the greatest gift. Because he had never had to work hard at developing such a skill, Viru did not know how to dedicate himself to disciplined training.

“It was only during periods of relative poor form that he was prepared to spend time getting things back on track. As soon as he made some runs he slipped back into old habits and appeared content to practise in the same old profligate way; until his form evaporated again.”

And now his form has evaporated again. So will Sehwag buckle down and do all it takes to get back in the team or will he take the easy way out and play the IPL (there always will be place for him in an IPL team and it will be good money)? There can simply be no temporary measures – not in Sehwag’s case.

On Thursday, he batted for 25 minutes in the nets, hit the ball around a bit, and hummed a few songs while batting. It was his longest knock in a while. Almost instantly, images of a brilliant career started flashing in our minds; memorable knocks, the keen gambler’s instinct; the complete disregard to convention.

Yet no one is irreplaceable, particularly one whose persistent back injuries and weakened shoulder have reduced him from a special player to an ordinary one. Sehwag hasn’t played a competitive cricket match in over a month and only began training seriously 4-5 days back. At some level, he must take a call on whether he is good enough to start playing cricket right now or does he need time to bring his cricket skills back up to scratch.

Some might say that the Delhi is in desperate need of a boost, having lost their first four matches. But the man who really needs a lifeline is Sehwag himself. He needs something, someone to rescue him from mediocrity and for that he needs to figure out what he’s playing cricket for.

If it’s just for the money, the IPL will do nicely. He can play some Ranji Trophy too. But if it’s for something greater… for glory, then he needs to go all out. He needs to gamble it all on one last punt.

Basketball legend Michael Jordan once said, ‘sometimes you need to get hit in the head to realise that you’re in a fight.’ Well, Sehwag’s been hit alright and it’s up to him to realise that he is in a fight for survival – if that won’t drive you, then nothing will.

There is still life in the old “Mad Dog”. But Indian cricket would be much happier, if there was some evidence of bite too. And that is the question that Sehwag will look to answer during the course of the sixth season of the Indian Premier League. If he can’t, then Boycott’s words might as well be true.