At His Best, Sehwag Was Better Than Sachin, Dravid, Ganguly And Laxman

Admin 20-Oct-2015 18:07:29 Inothernews

At His Best, Sehwag Was Better Than Sachin, Dravid, Ganguly And Laxman


"Yeh bowling kar raha hai ya bheekh maang raha hai? [Is he bowling or begging?]" -- Virender Sehwag to Pakistan's close-in fielders after Shoaib Akhtar's continuous sledging, asking the right-hander to hook. It even forced Shoaib's team-mates to crack up. It was the Nawab on Najafgarh at his very best. A lot of people will talk about the Sehwag's talent with the bat in hand. He could put the fear of god in the bowlers. He could force them to bowl to him. And he would almost always do it with a speed that fit the word 'blitzkrieg' to a T. But fewer still know that he would almost always destroy the opposition bowlers while casually humming a song. Virender Sehwag | Source: PTI



Some say that at the start of his career, he batted a lot like Sachin Tendulkar. Indeed, perhaps it was hard to distinguish between the two at times. But that was only until Sehwag started talking. While Sachin always had a guarded feel when he spoke to the media, Sehwag's comments were as free-flowing as his batting. It was hard not to love him.

Take for instance, this brilliant moment: When asked for nth time what was the difference between him and Sachin Tendulkar, Sehwag smiled and casually said, "Our bank balance."

He did it with such disarming honesty that one couldn't help but laugh but of course, there were times when the words were meant to bite. Geoff Boycott once referred to him as ""talented but brainless."." Sehwag's response would have back the man from Yorkshire in more ways than one.

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"Boycott can say what he wants. He once batted the whole day and hit just one four," Sehwag had said.

It was straight and to the point. With Sehwag, there was no beating around the bush. If you approached him for an interview, it would be either be a straight no or a yes. There was no dilly-dallying. His batting was the same.

In an article for Wisden Asia Cricket, Sourav Ganguly tried to explain how Sehwag's mind works: "The best way to know how Virender Sehwag's mind works is to sit next to him in the players' balcony when India are batting. Every few minutes he will clutch his head and yell, "Chauka gaya" or "Chhakka gaya". That's his way of expressing disappointment at somebody's failure to take advantage of a ball that he thought deserved to be hit for four or six. That's how he thinks, in fours and sixes."

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