Sehwag rules

The word ‘rules’? Pun intended. It can be interpreted in two ways. Firstly, the way the average teenager will, ‘rules’ substituting ‘rocks’ or some other asinine word. Secondly, ‘rules’ meaning regulations, and the whole title would mean Sehwag’s regulations on how cricket should be played.

Virender Sehwag. Viru. So much has been said about this man. On news channels, newspapers, magazines, social networking sites. There’s probably not much I can say that wouldn’t have been said already.

When he first joined the Indian team, he was often compared to Sachin Tendulkar, which is rather odd if you ask me. Apart from a slight physical resemblance, there is a huge difference between the two. But we’ll get back to that later.

Sehwag is actually rather famous for his double tons. The most recent was the one I watched and I remember that when Sehwag got out, every single player of the opposing team ran all the way to shake his hand and congratulate him. It was a very sweet scene.

Sehwag’s most recent knock was during the first innings, day 1 of the first test against England. He made a fantastic 117 off 117 balls, which is brilliant especially in test cricket. He was beaten by Graeme Swann and Pujara’s 207, unbeaten was given the pedestal, but there’s no denying that it was a great comeback by Virender Sehwag.

Basically there are two types of batsmen – the defensive ones, who stay on the field for a long time and take their own sweet time to make runs, and the aggressive batsmen who skip everything else and go straight for the boundary. The defensive ones are the ones who do not take risks, the aggressive ones thrive on risk taking. In test cricket, staying for a long time takes precedence over making runs, so defensive batsmen such as Sachin Tendulkar are better suited for this form of the game. In limited overs, its important to make quick-fire runs and risk taking is inevitable so aggressive batsmen are better suited for this form of the game. The best example is Virender Sehwag. Herein lies the difference between Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag.

Sehwag receives a lot of criticism for this style of batting and for his recklessness on the field, but his main motto is – Believing in something everybody believes in is called a belief. Believing in something nobody else believes in is called confidence. Sehwag gives that a whole new context.

In Sehwag’s mind, one and two runs are equivalent to getting duck out. A four is okay, maybe even respectable. Sixes however, are excellent. There are many ways to criticize Sehwag for this, but what people think is his worst fault, is actually Sehwag’s best virtue. I’m sure all the people who love Sehwag will agree, as will the people who hate Sehwag.

Such is Sehwag’s talent and greatness.