Over the wicket: Sehwag is India's 'marathon man'

Usually, a score of 284 runs is the total scored by a team in one day. Then imagine that score achieved by one batsman in a day! Impossible to many, but not for Virender Sehwag. The dashing Indian opener did it on the second day of the ongoing Brabourne Test against Sri Lanka revealing his enormous strength, stamina, talent and determination.

Cricketers do go on to shatter records, but Sehwag will always remain as the first ‘marathon man' of Indian cricket. Once he settles down, then it is a nightmare for any bowler.

Sehwag deserved his triple century for the entertainment he provided at Brabourne, but the game of cricket is such that despite the great innings a batsman has played, one error from him and he will have to pay the price for that.

What amazes me is Sehwag's attitude. In all my interactions with him, he came across as an absolutely relaxed and carefree player. I was fortunate to have reported his first triple century at Multan which made him India's highest scorer. For Sehwag, it hardly matters even if he is on the verge of creating a world record; he will hit the ball if it has to be hit.

Players capable of playing long innings have different methods to keep themselves going. Sunil Gavaskar takes a fresh guard after a century and goes on as if it is the next innings. Sehwag does not bother doing anything like that; in fact the longer he stays the more aggressive he turns and very often reaches a stage where bowlers do not know where to pitch. Viv Richards is the only other batsman who had this quality.

As long as Sehwag is around, Lara's record for the highest score of 400 will be under threat. In fact, Lara himself admitted to this on his Chevrolet talk show in Dubai.

Years back when Sehwag slipped out of form, a few cricketers commented that it was because he plays too many stokes. His answer to them was: "If I had feared playing my strokes I would not have played the game. I never give a damn who is bowling to me." He even inspires his teammates to play like him and that is what transformed his opening partner Gautam Gambhir into an aggressive batsman today.Demolishing the bowling is an art and Sehwag knows it best. And it is no mean feat either to clinch a place among Donald Bradman, W.G. Hammond and Dennis Compton for scoring the most runs in a day.