SEHWAG'S SPECIAL

Leaving behind hefty discussions on Virender Sehwag’s batting ability and analyzing the mastery of his strokeplay, an important perspective would be to view the impact of his whirlwind innings on the status of Test cricket today. When Sehwag got out this morning trying to flay the South African pacer Makhaya Ntini for the umpteenth time through the off-side, he had already made a mockery of many milestones. His 319 came off just 304 deliveries punctuated with 43 boundaries and 5 sixes; all at an astonishing strike rate of 104.93. Apart from re-establishing his reputation as one of the most destructive batsmen the game has ever known, his innings left a shining imprint on the feasibility of Test cricket being a crowd puller to the hilt. The memories of the T-20 World Cup is still green in our minds and together with the latest euphoria surrounding the advent of the Indian Premier League, 20-20 cricket has gripped the general imagination with a frenzy that’s hard to miss. Nevertheless, Sehwag’s heroics has reinstated the case for the future of Test cricket. It is here to stay and how. Players, purists and commentators have always maintained that Test cricket is ‘real’ cricket, that which separates the men from the boys. The main objections to its appeal for the modern day spectator came about with cricket being modified into its One-day and 20-20 avatars. Questions were raised on whether the longer version had in itself the ingredients to keep the TV audience glued to their seats and draw enough crowds to pack large stadiums. Well, Sehwag’s innings was a resounding answer to all these questions and much more. There were crowds all right. A packed Chepauk Stadium witnessed some of its most wild scenes of elation as Sehwag went about marauding the South African bowling. Commentators sat up and applauded as did the whole world to witness the Nawab of Najafgarh walk into elite company of batting greats such as Sir Donald Bradman and Brian Lara as the only other players to have scored triple hundreds twice in their careers. The distinctive traits of 20-20 cricket that has found such wide acclaim such as cricket being played at a frenetic pace, a deluge of boundaries resulting from dramatic stroke play were all present as Sehwag demonstrated in his usual brutal manner. A strike rate of 104.93 is one that most batsmen would crave for to feature in their 20-20 statistics. It was hardly surprising then that this was the fastest triple century in the history of Test cricket. It was as if the essence of 20 over cricket was magnified manifolds onto a 90 over canvas. Same excitement, triple the fun. After all expecting a triple century in 20-20 cricket remains a logistical impossibility. Thus, Sehwag’s innings has not bolstered the future of Test cricket, its future was always secure. It has only reminded us that Test cricket is here to enthrall us for atleast the next 319 years (triple centuries anyone?).