At times you stop because you sniff a story, other times, just to talk. I stopped because the three black stumps (with golden stripes) had been reinforced with a makeshift wicket in front of them – makeshift was made up of empty boxes, throwaway cartons. Puzzling; so I stopped, disrupted their game, and got all chatty.
Why the boxes, guys – I asked a motley crew of 7,8 and 9 year old boys, one girl thrown in for variety. They tell me the stumps won’t hold, in spite of the stand, or rather because of that stand.
When looking for a parking spot, behind Hauz Khas market, around the houses, I have times for these things.
They want to show me a stump, and they do; the stump exchange can’t happen either – they were bought in Sadar Bazar. Must have been a good rate, bet they have a wholesale shop for stumps there.
Done with the stumps I ask them if they know where Sehwag stays? “Haan! – Yes! – I know” And one kid tells me, “andar A Block walli galli me (in the A block lane, inside).
“And have you met him?”
“Haan, yes, I have!”
“What did you say to him”
“Hello bola tha”
“Just Hello, what did he say?”
Hello bola tha!
“Lagta hai tumhare jaise Viru bhi sharmata hai” (Like you, Viru's shy too)
I drive off, thinking, what will I say to Viru if I run into him in Hauz Khas.
What will you say?
On Bored: Jatman Sehwag
Showing posts with label Viru. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Viru. Show all posts
December 07, 2009
October 07, 2009
Sehwag prepares for cricket after life.
In the last few months Sehwag has lived a little. For that he had to die a little first, what with his emergency exit from the Twenty20 World Cup.
But after that, Sehwag found his voice, his calling, his self. From a maverick taking on the DDCA, to shooting from the hip in one interview after another. Prior to this I do not recall ever reading a Sehwag interview; there might have been the odd sound byte, but nothing on such a scale.
It was as if Sehwag was the funky new cerebral side of cricket. Humour and commonsense, honesty and straight talk, that was Sehwag’s cricketing grammar.
Till last year, I wondered ‘how do you solve a brand like Viru’ – and did he have any PR people, or for that matter any people working on brand Sehwag. It’s obvious most Indian cricketers do, and these brand managers work overtime keeping their stars shinning even on starless nights.
With Sehwag it was the opposite. No matter what he did it was never enough. He needed to score twice as fast, twice as many to be a blip on the radar.
Then what changed? I think the IPL was a huge factor, it showed Sehwag on a very marketable stage – top boss, all batsman, and pitted him against MSD, Yuvraj, Sachin, not just as a player, but as a brand. From an invisible brand, Sehwag at least registered. If not across India, definitely in Delhi.
Good for him, the kids like him, at least at the adidas store. Then there was the emergence of Gambhir, suddenly it was 1 + 1 deal, Sehwag + Gambhir.
The two get on like Bonny and Clyde, there’s a similar frantic-rush from raiding bowlers. I think by 2009 both Gambhir and Sehwag realised that, and in that realisation came the need to communicate – vital, if you learn one thing from Sachin, it is important to say it. You could be great, and all that, but it needs to be known, repeatedly.
So Sehwag went on overdrive talking about his triples, his favourite innings in Galle – all this needed to be said. Top that Sehwag spoke about his favourite player Gambhir, their vibe, ditto from Gambhir.
After missing a World Cup and a Champions Trophy, where India failed to make the semis, Sehwag returns in the Irani trophy – he opens in the first innings, not so in the second. Before this, the last innings he played was in IPL 2.
From that innings to now, I think Sehwag’s travelled a fair bit. While in the IPL he was content to make Warner open, play mentor, captain, senior Delhi player, he will now play purely as an opening batsman.
While the mind will be clearer, he still returns from a lay off. What Sehwag accomplishes in the next few months will decide where both the player and the brand go. Get Delhi beyond the semis for once, win a 7 ODI series against Australia, it can happen. If Sehwag happens. If MSD makes him happen.
But after that, Sehwag found his voice, his calling, his self. From a maverick taking on the DDCA, to shooting from the hip in one interview after another. Prior to this I do not recall ever reading a Sehwag interview; there might have been the odd sound byte, but nothing on such a scale.
It was as if Sehwag was the funky new cerebral side of cricket. Humour and commonsense, honesty and straight talk, that was Sehwag’s cricketing grammar.
Till last year, I wondered ‘how do you solve a brand like Viru’ – and did he have any PR people, or for that matter any people working on brand Sehwag. It’s obvious most Indian cricketers do, and these brand managers work overtime keeping their stars shinning even on starless nights.
With Sehwag it was the opposite. No matter what he did it was never enough. He needed to score twice as fast, twice as many to be a blip on the radar.
Then what changed? I think the IPL was a huge factor, it showed Sehwag on a very marketable stage – top boss, all batsman, and pitted him against MSD, Yuvraj, Sachin, not just as a player, but as a brand. From an invisible brand, Sehwag at least registered. If not across India, definitely in Delhi.
Good for him, the kids like him, at least at the adidas store. Then there was the emergence of Gambhir, suddenly it was 1 + 1 deal, Sehwag + Gambhir.
The two get on like Bonny and Clyde, there’s a similar frantic-rush from raiding bowlers. I think by 2009 both Gambhir and Sehwag realised that, and in that realisation came the need to communicate – vital, if you learn one thing from Sachin, it is important to say it. You could be great, and all that, but it needs to be known, repeatedly.
So Sehwag went on overdrive talking about his triples, his favourite innings in Galle – all this needed to be said. Top that Sehwag spoke about his favourite player Gambhir, their vibe, ditto from Gambhir.
After missing a World Cup and a Champions Trophy, where India failed to make the semis, Sehwag returns in the Irani trophy – he opens in the first innings, not so in the second. Before this, the last innings he played was in IPL 2.
From that innings to now, I think Sehwag’s travelled a fair bit. While in the IPL he was content to make Warner open, play mentor, captain, senior Delhi player, he will now play purely as an opening batsman.
While the mind will be clearer, he still returns from a lay off. What Sehwag accomplishes in the next few months will decide where both the player and the brand go. Get Delhi beyond the semis for once, win a 7 ODI series against Australia, it can happen. If Sehwag happens. If MSD makes him happen.
March 27, 2009
August 19, 2008
Four letter solutions.
Any major dude will tell you India’s problem is the middle order.
Not just the test middle order. But the one-day middle order too.
Basically, all Indian middle orders.
Apart from the opening batsmen that are two in number, and the tail, that are also two, the middle order is made up of as many as seven players – who can be defined as lower middle order, higher middle order, and middle-middle order batsman. Mm what does that tell you?
Sure, a solution to displace the middle-middle order (India’s core) appears drastic.
But what the heck, something’s gotta give, and it’s not Jack Nicholson for sure.
Let’s give it a try: Sehwag’s gone, so that leaves one slot on top open. Let’s move one of Mendis’ pawns up there – say Yuvraj. Face it, after Viru, Yuvi’s the only one with a four letter nickname to four letter the Lankans. Get him on top. Two left handers too many? No way. Give Yuvi time in the middle, get his feet and mind moving against the seamers, and hope he plays the Mms like that too.
Next, Mahi’s rook goes there – because no matter how much he tries, the Wall handle doesn’t suit him. Hell, it doesn’t even suit the Wall any more.
Crucially, Mahi also has a four letter nickname too. Get the picture? Good.
Did you know Bored Cricket Crazy Indians aka BCCI is also four letters?
PS: Zaheer Khan's nickname Zaks, also four letters, bowling analysis - 9.5-3-21-4
Any major dude will tell you India’s problem is the middle order.
Not just the test middle order. But the one-day middle order too.
Basically, all Indian middle orders.
Apart from the opening batsmen that are two in number, and the tail, that are also two, the middle order is made up of as many as seven players – who can be defined as lower middle order, higher middle order, and middle-middle order batsman. Mm what does that tell you?
Sure, a solution to displace the middle-middle order (India’s core) appears drastic.
But what the heck, something’s gotta give, and it’s not Jack Nicholson for sure.
Let’s give it a try: Sehwag’s gone, so that leaves one slot on top open. Let’s move one of Mendis’ pawns up there – say Yuvraj. Face it, after Viru, Yuvi’s the only one with a four letter nickname to four letter the Lankans. Get him on top. Two left handers too many? No way. Give Yuvi time in the middle, get his feet and mind moving against the seamers, and hope he plays the Mms like that too.
Next, Mahi’s rook goes there – because no matter how much he tries, the Wall handle doesn’t suit him. Hell, it doesn’t even suit the Wall any more.
Crucially, Mahi also has a four letter nickname too. Get the picture? Good.
Did you know Bored Cricket Crazy Indians aka BCCI is also four letters?
PS: Zaheer Khan's nickname Zaks, also four letters, bowling analysis - 9.5-3-21-4
August 07, 2008
How do you solve a brand like Viru?
We rue no more: This could be a temporary phase. It could last no more than a few days. Till the next innings, the next series, the next time India collapses and Virender Sehwag doesn’t do his bit with one of those big hundreds.
Not only that. While failing to score an utterly irresponsible test hundred, he may also play one of those audacious non-hooks that cause wads to be flashed in parliament.
Now Sehwag is no parliamentarian. And somehow he has never won the collective vote of the Indian mind, heart or press. Press will stop for cattle on the roads, but if ever Sehwag scores a triple hundred in the wrong time zone, expect the morning papers to only print his score at lunch. That is, if he made that hundred before lunch –like he’s been promising for ages.
Yet it is now clear that Sehwag not only merits more attention, he demands it, at least in cricketing circles – while this may not always include the mainstream media, advertisers or the girl brigade, being a niche brand has its advantages.
Canny advertisers will pick Sehwag before he falls into someone else’s lap. To think that his last ad casting of any note was Coke’s “Sehwag ke thande funde”(Sehwag’s cool rules) from another lifetime, shows how myopic the moneybags have been. If Sehwag’s appeal lies in nonchalant cool, more so in the North, then how did so many talcum powders, air conditioners, itch guards, give him the miss. Specially itch guards, which brings us to -
Sachin Tendulkar, the boy who always had an itch to scratch at the crease. He sold everything, even stuff that didn’t sell. To delve into Tendulkar’s brandscape is a complete thesis in itself. Sehwag took off as Sachin’s twin, and together they frolicked in the Boost commercial - cricket picnic on hanging rock. That was when Sachin was big, and Sehwag was to be the next big thing.
Moving on to Yuvraj Singh. Never a test regular but the fast food of Indian cricket. He had hair, a girlfriend and was plugged to the party circuit. He rocked as India rocked; more so with the new found knowhow that India did indeed rock. There was a never before brashness, Punjabi hip, “make way for the Indian” about him. It was cool to hang out with Yuvraj, even cooler to be associated with him. Yuvraj straddled two worlds, the play field and the dance floor. And he juggled both with élan. Yet Yuvraj was limited for obvious reasons, as was his cricket.
And then MS Dhoni was born. When, how, or from where are part of MSD lore now. And as he continues to play and not play, MSD’s legend grows, feeding on his every action, inaction. For starters he had more hair. Then he had more runs in a one-day innings than any wicket keeper. Then he became the top ranked ODI player, ODI captain, and before you knew it, everything started to happen, simultaneously. MSD was the “Hamara Bajaj” equivalent of a cricketer brand, and pulled it off with chutzpah. He even got away with a haircut.
No such luck for Sehwag. From the heir apparent to Rahul Dravid, he was soon hairless. Soon out of the team, out of the mind. Sehwag’s Mayur suiting ads also disappeared, and then the Twenty20 World Cup comeback – a few cameos later he was unfit for the finals. Next: a wild card entry for Australia. A new, improved Sehwag was back.
In a way Sehwag does with the bat what Yuvraj and Dhoni do in their ads. Yet the divide between perception and reality is huge – does anyone, off the field think Sehwag is cool?
Cool or not, he scores quicker than any cricketer on earth. And we’re not talking Little Miss Muffet 20s and 30s by Shahid Afridi here. We’re talking 200s, 300s, get the picture.
Surely some brands can enjoy a quickie with Sehwag: Quick Fix, Speed (high performance petrol), Fast Track watches. Basically brands that promise swiftness – how about Swift from Maruti Suzuki?
While this makes Sehwag somewhat one dimensional, it’s a definite start. The brand layers will come as savvy advertisers flesh the Viru Dada enigma out.
The makings of a brand are there. And the faster Sehwag’s people suss that out the better for Viru the cricketer. For, no amount of triple or double hundreds can secure his place in the squad. Fact is there are just too many sellable players in Indian cricket. And finally, that’s what adds fizz to a star player.
How do you solve a brand like Viru?
How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?
How do you find a word that means Viru?
A flibbertijibbet! A will-o'-the wisp! A clown!
Many a thing you know you'd like to tell him
Many a thing he ought to understand
But how do you make him stay
And listen to all you say
How do you keep a wave upon the sand
Oh, how do you solve a brand like Viru?
How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?
Also read in the How do you solve series
Not only that. While failing to score an utterly irresponsible test hundred, he may also play one of those audacious non-hooks that cause wads to be flashed in parliament.
Now Sehwag is no parliamentarian. And somehow he has never won the collective vote of the Indian mind, heart or press. Press will stop for cattle on the roads, but if ever Sehwag scores a triple hundred in the wrong time zone, expect the morning papers to only print his score at lunch. That is, if he made that hundred before lunch –like he’s been promising for ages.
Yet it is now clear that Sehwag not only merits more attention, he demands it, at least in cricketing circles – while this may not always include the mainstream media, advertisers or the girl brigade, being a niche brand has its advantages.
Canny advertisers will pick Sehwag before he falls into someone else’s lap. To think that his last ad casting of any note was Coke’s “Sehwag ke thande funde”(Sehwag’s cool rules) from another lifetime, shows how myopic the moneybags have been. If Sehwag’s appeal lies in nonchalant cool, more so in the North, then how did so many talcum powders, air conditioners, itch guards, give him the miss. Specially itch guards, which brings us to -
Sachin Tendulkar, the boy who always had an itch to scratch at the crease. He sold everything, even stuff that didn’t sell. To delve into Tendulkar’s brandscape is a complete thesis in itself. Sehwag took off as Sachin’s twin, and together they frolicked in the Boost commercial - cricket picnic on hanging rock. That was when Sachin was big, and Sehwag was to be the next big thing.
Moving on to Yuvraj Singh. Never a test regular but the fast food of Indian cricket. He had hair, a girlfriend and was plugged to the party circuit. He rocked as India rocked; more so with the new found knowhow that India did indeed rock. There was a never before brashness, Punjabi hip, “make way for the Indian” about him. It was cool to hang out with Yuvraj, even cooler to be associated with him. Yuvraj straddled two worlds, the play field and the dance floor. And he juggled both with élan. Yet Yuvraj was limited for obvious reasons, as was his cricket.
And then MS Dhoni was born. When, how, or from where are part of MSD lore now. And as he continues to play and not play, MSD’s legend grows, feeding on his every action, inaction. For starters he had more hair. Then he had more runs in a one-day innings than any wicket keeper. Then he became the top ranked ODI player, ODI captain, and before you knew it, everything started to happen, simultaneously. MSD was the “Hamara Bajaj” equivalent of a cricketer brand, and pulled it off with chutzpah. He even got away with a haircut.
No such luck for Sehwag. From the heir apparent to Rahul Dravid, he was soon hairless. Soon out of the team, out of the mind. Sehwag’s Mayur suiting ads also disappeared, and then the Twenty20 World Cup comeback – a few cameos later he was unfit for the finals. Next: a wild card entry for Australia. A new, improved Sehwag was back.
In a way Sehwag does with the bat what Yuvraj and Dhoni do in their ads. Yet the divide between perception and reality is huge – does anyone, off the field think Sehwag is cool?
Cool or not, he scores quicker than any cricketer on earth. And we’re not talking Little Miss Muffet 20s and 30s by Shahid Afridi here. We’re talking 200s, 300s, get the picture.
Surely some brands can enjoy a quickie with Sehwag: Quick Fix, Speed (high performance petrol), Fast Track watches. Basically brands that promise swiftness – how about Swift from Maruti Suzuki?
While this makes Sehwag somewhat one dimensional, it’s a definite start. The brand layers will come as savvy advertisers flesh the Viru Dada enigma out.
The makings of a brand are there. And the faster Sehwag’s people suss that out the better for Viru the cricketer. For, no amount of triple or double hundreds can secure his place in the squad. Fact is there are just too many sellable players in Indian cricket. And finally, that’s what adds fizz to a star player.
How do you solve a brand like Viru?
How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?
How do you find a word that means Viru?
A flibbertijibbet! A will-o'-the wisp! A clown!
Many a thing you know you'd like to tell him
Many a thing he ought to understand
But how do you make him stay
And listen to all you say
How do you keep a wave upon the sand
Oh, how do you solve a brand like Viru?
How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?
Also read in the How do you solve series
August 01, 2008
Sehwag not single.
Sehwag on 199. Last man Ishant Sharma at the other end. Ball played square, clear of any fielder. The single is on - Sehwag can score his 200th run. After how the team collectively threw in towels, underwear, inhibitions, you’d forgive him this tiny trespass. Go on Viru, get the single, get the 200th run - Ishant can block a few balls. But he doesn’t take the single. He waits it out.
And leaves you to ponder if any of the record breakers in this Indian team would have overlooked that single. Forget the Indian team - is there anyone in world cricket who would’ve let that single go?
But Sehwag continues to block. The big tease is saved for that elusive 200th run. The drift is towards a customary six. There is no six coming. Bat pad kissed together, ball smothered into the ground.
Is Sehwag playing for Ishant? Is he playing for the 400 runs he spoke about? Is he playing to instruct – impart patience where none existed? Is it a pointer to the mainstay of Indian batting – and to the powers behind them? Either way, it’s worth a think. But who will?
And leaves you to ponder if any of the record breakers in this Indian team would have overlooked that single. Forget the Indian team - is there anyone in world cricket who would’ve let that single go?
But Sehwag continues to block. The big tease is saved for that elusive 200th run. The drift is towards a customary six. There is no six coming. Bat pad kissed together, ball smothered into the ground.
Is Sehwag playing for Ishant? Is he playing for the 400 runs he spoke about? Is he playing to instruct – impart patience where none existed? Is it a pointer to the mainstay of Indian batting – and to the powers behind them? Either way, it’s worth a think. But who will?
July 25, 2008
How do you solve a problem like Viru?
You cannot fault Virender Sehwag for the shot he played. After all, Sehwag had, after a long time found acceptance.
And that doesn’t sit naturally on Sehwag’s itchy shoulders. So, when one went well over those itchy shoulders, it was natural for him to reach it – even if it was nigh unreachable.
Never mind that he had just hit five 4s, 25 off 15 before that. He had already had his fifteen minutes of fame. Twenty three to be precise. That’s a lot of labour for the newly appointed vice captain.
And who is Kulasekara to bounce him out –he’ll have to go. Dismissed from sight.
Instead Sehwag is dismissed.
It may just be one shot by one player in one innings - and there’s still plenty in the series to play for, but this one shot, perhaps defines Sehwag’s low grasp of cricketing high points.
Even before India batted, it was obvious that the Indian openers would define this test – whether it would be a draw or a defeat.
Whether it is the Delhi Daredevils, the India T20, ODI or test team, Sehwag has it in him to define an innings.
By some strange coincidence, he also has it in him, to scar beyond recognition, not only the bowling attack, but the course an Indian innings takes.
Post Sehwag, often, an Indian innings caves in so fast, you’d think, there goes the Pied Piper, and with him the rats.
But why does Sehwag do so repeatedly? The evening walk down to Ajantha Mendis in the Asia Cup finals still stinks. There, he had the bowling by the unmentionables, as now – both times he presses the “I am too sexy” for your bowling button, and vamooses off.
Is it that Sehwag feels it beneath himself to be figured out by a bowler? So, even if he is at the peak of his anarchic powers, he must disfigure his innings. All by himself.
Is Sehwag’s way a ten way highway video game, where he only overtakes - from the left, from the right, and if need be, from the top –like that unreachable ball from some bloke called Kulasekara who’s barely played four tests.
The image stays with you. Sehwag playing that samurai sword slicing through air shot. And you know, it’s that bad old Kamikaze trick again.
How do you solve a problem like Viru?
How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?
How do you find a word that means Viru?
A flibbertijibbet! A will-o'-the wisp! A clown!
Many a thing you know you'd like to tell him
Many a thing he ought to understand
But how do you make him stay
And listen to all you say
How do you keep a wave upon the sand
Oh, how do you solve a problem like Viru?
How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?
And that doesn’t sit naturally on Sehwag’s itchy shoulders. So, when one went well over those itchy shoulders, it was natural for him to reach it – even if it was nigh unreachable.
Never mind that he had just hit five 4s, 25 off 15 before that. He had already had his fifteen minutes of fame. Twenty three to be precise. That’s a lot of labour for the newly appointed vice captain.
And who is Kulasekara to bounce him out –he’ll have to go. Dismissed from sight.
Instead Sehwag is dismissed.
It may just be one shot by one player in one innings - and there’s still plenty in the series to play for, but this one shot, perhaps defines Sehwag’s low grasp of cricketing high points.
Even before India batted, it was obvious that the Indian openers would define this test – whether it would be a draw or a defeat.
Whether it is the Delhi Daredevils, the India T20, ODI or test team, Sehwag has it in him to define an innings.
By some strange coincidence, he also has it in him, to scar beyond recognition, not only the bowling attack, but the course an Indian innings takes.
Post Sehwag, often, an Indian innings caves in so fast, you’d think, there goes the Pied Piper, and with him the rats.
But why does Sehwag do so repeatedly? The evening walk down to Ajantha Mendis in the Asia Cup finals still stinks. There, he had the bowling by the unmentionables, as now – both times he presses the “I am too sexy” for your bowling button, and vamooses off.
Is it that Sehwag feels it beneath himself to be figured out by a bowler? So, even if he is at the peak of his anarchic powers, he must disfigure his innings. All by himself.
Is Sehwag’s way a ten way highway video game, where he only overtakes - from the left, from the right, and if need be, from the top –like that unreachable ball from some bloke called Kulasekara who’s barely played four tests.
The image stays with you. Sehwag playing that samurai sword slicing through air shot. And you know, it’s that bad old Kamikaze trick again.
How do you solve a problem like Viru?
How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?
How do you find a word that means Viru?
A flibbertijibbet! A will-o'-the wisp! A clown!
Many a thing you know you'd like to tell him
Many a thing he ought to understand
But how do you make him stay
And listen to all you say
How do you keep a wave upon the sand
Oh, how do you solve a problem like Viru?
How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?
March 29, 2008
Triple Standards.
It takes Virender Sehwag to score a double hundred to cement his spot for the next two series. And when he doesn’t score a double for a while, questions on consistency are asked, naturally.
Imagine then, what happens when Sehwag fails to score a triple century for a full four years. Please recall, when was that Multan triplet? Circa 2004!? Do we have any evidence he scored those runs– Mughal miniatures, for instance? And what conditions? Another desi flatbed for the flat track badshah? The quality of opposition bowling: has-beens; a mixed-up Pakistani bowling attack? Wasn’t that Saqlain’s last test match too? And why was Sehwag so attacking – wasn’t that a test? "All hand-eye coordination, no footwork, won’t come off in seaming wickets." But he did.
Anyway, it’s been four long years since Sehwag scored his last triple, not nearly good enough – when most players score 0s, 20s, 50s in tests, they continue to do so with jarring regularity. One knows, what to expect; not like a box of chocolates where you never know what you’re gonna get! Even Veeru’s Mama will agree.
Consider this fine specimen of a batsman: dedicated, well-mannered, team player, handsome, average in the mid-high 30s, adaptability to one-dayers, good fielder, prospect for tests. And at no time will he hoodwink you into thinking there’s another triple just round the corner. He will score so many 0s, 30s, 50s, you will observe a pattern – and know that he will score 57 today and 16 in the second innings. And his average, it will always hover around that marvelous 35 mark. Not to forget, he has the makings of an all-rounder too.
Coming back to Sehwag’s case: we’ll cake his face today, and serve him the airtime reserved for Yuvi and Mahi and Sachin and Saurav and other cool dudes. Which will be rightfully forwarded to them, once the one-dayers and the Twenty20 games begin. By the way, when is that? "I can’t wait to see Sachin open with Gambhir or Uthappa." "Or do you think Sehwag will open now? Sehwag, captain material?"
Yeah, let’s stay with today’s TV special: Sehwag special. Let’s speak to his bhabhi, bhanji, Ma and his local gang and barber. Let’s bring them into our homes. Let’s be one of them. Ask them probing questions, like if they’ve spoken to Veeru yet – any message for Veeru? How will they celebrate? If only he could have tasted his ma’s kheer today!
Is this all for real?
Virender Sehwag is for real. His cricket is. And has been for a lot longer than the triplets of Multan and Chennai. These are massive scores that inhabit statistical Jurassic Parks and our out-numbered minds. If these are the timeless Kohinoors, in between were Veeru’s nameless gems that had in them the range and ambition to define Indian cricket. Only, they were far from treasured. Indian cricket hungered for the doubles, triples. It failed to determine the exchange rate.
Dravid though, understood the currency of cricket and backed his man.
The graffiti was on the wall yet again: as Jammy shared with Veeru what seemed to be a personal triumph. First the double, then the triple. He was there.
Bet it was so much sweeter for Sehwag to be in such good company. Far from the duplicity and triple standards of Indian cricket.
For a moment, it appeared Sewhag would inherit Indian cricket, again. Just as it appeared Rock ‘n’ Roll would inherit the world in the '60s. Either way, it takes a believer to know what rocks. And an infidel to roll on about flat tracks and footwork.
More on Sehwag
Imagine then, what happens when Sehwag fails to score a triple century for a full four years. Please recall, when was that Multan triplet? Circa 2004!? Do we have any evidence he scored those runs– Mughal miniatures, for instance? And what conditions? Another desi flatbed for the flat track badshah? The quality of opposition bowling: has-beens; a mixed-up Pakistani bowling attack? Wasn’t that Saqlain’s last test match too? And why was Sehwag so attacking – wasn’t that a test? "All hand-eye coordination, no footwork, won’t come off in seaming wickets." But he did.
Anyway, it’s been four long years since Sehwag scored his last triple, not nearly good enough – when most players score 0s, 20s, 50s in tests, they continue to do so with jarring regularity. One knows, what to expect; not like a box of chocolates where you never know what you’re gonna get! Even Veeru’s Mama will agree.
Consider this fine specimen of a batsman: dedicated, well-mannered, team player, handsome, average in the mid-high 30s, adaptability to one-dayers, good fielder, prospect for tests. And at no time will he hoodwink you into thinking there’s another triple just round the corner. He will score so many 0s, 30s, 50s, you will observe a pattern – and know that he will score 57 today and 16 in the second innings. And his average, it will always hover around that marvelous 35 mark. Not to forget, he has the makings of an all-rounder too.
Coming back to Sehwag’s case: we’ll cake his face today, and serve him the airtime reserved for Yuvi and Mahi and Sachin and Saurav and other cool dudes. Which will be rightfully forwarded to them, once the one-dayers and the Twenty20 games begin. By the way, when is that? "I can’t wait to see Sachin open with Gambhir or Uthappa." "Or do you think Sehwag will open now? Sehwag, captain material?"
Yeah, let’s stay with today’s TV special: Sehwag special. Let’s speak to his bhabhi, bhanji, Ma and his local gang and barber. Let’s bring them into our homes. Let’s be one of them. Ask them probing questions, like if they’ve spoken to Veeru yet – any message for Veeru? How will they celebrate? If only he could have tasted his ma’s kheer today!
Is this all for real?
Virender Sehwag is for real. His cricket is. And has been for a lot longer than the triplets of Multan and Chennai. These are massive scores that inhabit statistical Jurassic Parks and our out-numbered minds. If these are the timeless Kohinoors, in between were Veeru’s nameless gems that had in them the range and ambition to define Indian cricket. Only, they were far from treasured. Indian cricket hungered for the doubles, triples. It failed to determine the exchange rate.
Dravid though, understood the currency of cricket and backed his man.
The graffiti was on the wall yet again: as Jammy shared with Veeru what seemed to be a personal triumph. First the double, then the triple. He was there.
Bet it was so much sweeter for Sehwag to be in such good company. Far from the duplicity and triple standards of Indian cricket.
For a moment, it appeared Sewhag would inherit Indian cricket, again. Just as it appeared Rock ‘n’ Roll would inherit the world in the '60s. Either way, it takes a believer to know what rocks. And an infidel to roll on about flat tracks and footwork.
More on Sehwag
June 16, 2007
A summer without Sehwag.
It's not as if Saurav Ganguly or Sachin Tendulkar has been dropped. It's only the floundering Virender Sehwag. And in many ways, it's not too different from when Pakistan drops Shahid Afridi. For whenever Pakistan drops Afridi, the reaction is, he's young enough to make a comeback. Which he does. To be dropped again. To make yet another comeback.
It's ironical that not too long back, Afridi after one of his drops whined that his game was very similar to Sehwag’s, only Sehwag (Veeru) had been handled far better by Indian cricket - and that's what made him produce better results. Q.E.D.
Off late though Veeru has not produced those better results. While Afridi's equity in Pak cricket rose, Veeru’s nose-dived. While Afridi tossed a coin to decide what form of cricket to play, Veeru continued to be tossed around.
It didn't help matters that more often than not, Sehwag had the gift of the garbled - whatever he said was misconstrued. Often what he didn't say was also misconstrued. He erred in backing his old captain and taking on the new coach. And when all that blew over somewhat reluctantly, for once, he backed the right horse - his new captain.
But that too was not incident free. Sehwag became so loyal, he even squealed about a misdirected sms to his latest mentor. And while it’s easy to blame technology, it was getting even easier to blame Virender Sehwag.
He all but lost it in South Africa. And even though he played a cameo in the 1st innings of the last test (as a middle order batsman) being promoted to open again, backfired in the 2nd innings – India lost the test and with it the series. Sehwag had the makings of a fall guy. He was ready to fall.
But somehow he didn’t. He made it to the World Cup. But in spite of a hundred against Bermuda, his cricket world started to fall apart. He was dropped from the tests v/s Bangladesh, but played in the ODIs on Rahul Dravid’s behest.
Few cameos and disappointments later, Virender Sehwag now finds himself sidelined from the England tour, from both teams.
As if preempting the announcement, Sehwag tried many a last ditch effort – he appeared for his employers in loony noon June matches. Followed by his new mantra-chirping avatar for the farcical Asia vs. Africa series. Do these games count?
Strangely they do in a player’s international averages. But in games where Shaun Pollock plays solely as a batter, and the Kenyans and Zimbabweans, and some obscure South Africans make the numbers – is anybody going to take Sehwag’s nearly there 50s seriously? That too, when he threw it all away in nonchalant Veeru fashion. Who cares if he’s striking at 100+, he didn’t make the big hundred that MS Dhoni did.
So now Dhoni, who also had a dismal World Cup, but has performed better off late, is Dravid’s deputy for the one-dayers. And yesterday’s vice captain is today’s vice.
Looks like it’s going to be a long summer without Sehwag. And India sans Veeru might just have a longer one. Because, like him or lump him, there’s this indefinable quality that makes him, if not a great player, very close to one.
To use numbers and averages make it too simple. The argument is clear – how can you drop an opening batsman with an average of 50 (rounded off) from the test team. That too, when he strikes better than every player in the team – including MSD.
Logic has never been the selectors’ strongest suit. Too often one-day bloomers translate into a test drop and vice versa. Ask Mohammed Kaif. For heaven’s sake, ask Virender Sehwag.
And if one has to find fault with Sehwag’s one-day form, then you are turning a blind eye to his strike rate of 97. Or for that matter, Yuvraj’s less than consistent career.
How else does Adam Gilchrist get away with a similar average–strike rate combo to that of Sehwag’s? One team’s merry meal is another’s diet coke. And while Gilchrist’s off days go unnoticed as Australia hardly lose – they can revel in the knowledge that Gilchrist has in him a magical innings that can win them the World Cup.
Meanwhile, India is oblivious that only 2-3 of the present lot (Sehwag, Yuvraj, Dhoni) can win games single-handedly. The others can play second fiddle or watch from the third row in the dressing room in awe.
Look around the cricketing world and there are few players as prolific as Sehwag. Being impatient with him is one thing. Dropping him now, is a case of better late than never.
So, what will the Indian team be without Sehwag? For one, it’ll be a lot duller in the dressing room. And on top of the order.
The new openers, whether it’s Jaffer, Gambhir, Karthik, or Uthappa will find it difficult to pull off a Sehwag. What, even Sehwag can’t do that kind of thing anymore.
It's ironical that not too long back, Afridi after one of his drops whined that his game was very similar to Sehwag’s, only Sehwag (Veeru) had been handled far better by Indian cricket - and that's what made him produce better results. Q.E.D.
Off late though Veeru has not produced those better results. While Afridi's equity in Pak cricket rose, Veeru’s nose-dived. While Afridi tossed a coin to decide what form of cricket to play, Veeru continued to be tossed around.
It didn't help matters that more often than not, Sehwag had the gift of the garbled - whatever he said was misconstrued. Often what he didn't say was also misconstrued. He erred in backing his old captain and taking on the new coach. And when all that blew over somewhat reluctantly, for once, he backed the right horse - his new captain.
But that too was not incident free. Sehwag became so loyal, he even squealed about a misdirected sms to his latest mentor. And while it’s easy to blame technology, it was getting even easier to blame Virender Sehwag.
He all but lost it in South Africa. And even though he played a cameo in the 1st innings of the last test (as a middle order batsman) being promoted to open again, backfired in the 2nd innings – India lost the test and with it the series. Sehwag had the makings of a fall guy. He was ready to fall.
But somehow he didn’t. He made it to the World Cup. But in spite of a hundred against Bermuda, his cricket world started to fall apart. He was dropped from the tests v/s Bangladesh, but played in the ODIs on Rahul Dravid’s behest.
Few cameos and disappointments later, Virender Sehwag now finds himself sidelined from the England tour, from both teams.
As if preempting the announcement, Sehwag tried many a last ditch effort – he appeared for his employers in loony noon June matches. Followed by his new mantra-chirping avatar for the farcical Asia vs. Africa series. Do these games count?
Strangely they do in a player’s international averages. But in games where Shaun Pollock plays solely as a batter, and the Kenyans and Zimbabweans, and some obscure South Africans make the numbers – is anybody going to take Sehwag’s nearly there 50s seriously? That too, when he threw it all away in nonchalant Veeru fashion. Who cares if he’s striking at 100+, he didn’t make the big hundred that MS Dhoni did.
So now Dhoni, who also had a dismal World Cup, but has performed better off late, is Dravid’s deputy for the one-dayers. And yesterday’s vice captain is today’s vice.
Looks like it’s going to be a long summer without Sehwag. And India sans Veeru might just have a longer one. Because, like him or lump him, there’s this indefinable quality that makes him, if not a great player, very close to one.
To use numbers and averages make it too simple. The argument is clear – how can you drop an opening batsman with an average of 50 (rounded off) from the test team. That too, when he strikes better than every player in the team – including MSD.
Logic has never been the selectors’ strongest suit. Too often one-day bloomers translate into a test drop and vice versa. Ask Mohammed Kaif. For heaven’s sake, ask Virender Sehwag.
And if one has to find fault with Sehwag’s one-day form, then you are turning a blind eye to his strike rate of 97. Or for that matter, Yuvraj’s less than consistent career.
How else does Adam Gilchrist get away with a similar average–strike rate combo to that of Sehwag’s? One team’s merry meal is another’s diet coke. And while Gilchrist’s off days go unnoticed as Australia hardly lose – they can revel in the knowledge that Gilchrist has in him a magical innings that can win them the World Cup.
Meanwhile, India is oblivious that only 2-3 of the present lot (Sehwag, Yuvraj, Dhoni) can win games single-handedly. The others can play second fiddle or watch from the third row in the dressing room in awe.
Look around the cricketing world and there are few players as prolific as Sehwag. Being impatient with him is one thing. Dropping him now, is a case of better late than never.
So, what will the Indian team be without Sehwag? For one, it’ll be a lot duller in the dressing room. And on top of the order.
The new openers, whether it’s Jaffer, Gambhir, Karthik, or Uthappa will find it difficult to pull off a Sehwag. What, even Sehwag can’t do that kind of thing anymore.
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