***Official*** South Africa in India

[duffer]

Due to all the runs he has scored on the flat pitches in Australia...

There is no doubting his ability to absolutely murder even the best of bowlers on really good batting wickets or even wickets which are helping the spinners, but there are severe doubts over his ability to succeed when conditions are favourable to seam bowling.

This doesn't mean he isn't a good player as scoring such huge runs against good bowling - flat tracks or not - is very, very impressive, but it does preclude him from the being the all time great his average suggests he is.

From what I've gathered his shot selection, especially when to go aerial has improved quite a lot in the past 2 Tests he's played. Not the greatest of sample spaces but he has the potential to go up another level and I hope he fulfills it. Not many players I'd rather watch when batting well than Viru.

 

[Prince EWS]

From what I've gathered his shot selection, especially when to go aerial has improved quite a lot in the past 2 Tests he's played. Not the greatest of sample spaces but he has the potential to go up another level and I hope he fulfills it.

I'm not a Sehwag fan by any stretch of the imagination, but I'd agree with that. However, I'm not prepared to change my opinion of his ability in bowler-friendly conditions just because he looks like he might do better than before. I'm sure he'll have chances in the future to prove his improvement in that area, and given I can see what you're saying, I'm open to taking a lot from it if he does indeed turn it around soon.

 

[Sanz]

Due to all the runs he has scored on the flat pitches in Australia....

That's BS,really :-

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/291354.html
http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/64061.html

 

[biased indian]

Due to all the runs he has scored on the flat pitches in Australia...

There is no doubting his ability to absolutely murder even the best of bowlers on really good batting wickets or even wickets which are helping the spinners, but there are severe doubts over his ability to succeed when conditions are favourable to seam bowling.

This doesn't mean he isn't a good player as scoring such huge runs against good bowling - flat tracks or not - is very, very impressive, but it does preclude him from the being the all time great his average suggests he is.

i think a handful of current batsmen will survie in those condition..

 

[Prince EWS]

That's BS,really :-

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/291354.html
http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/64061.html

Er... did you watch those games? Both pitches were very flat.

 

[ret]

on Sehwag getting the WR,

iifc, he wanted to get that the last time he got a triple so I m sure that would be on his mind
.... he has Dravid with him now and Tendulkar is next, both of them understand Sehwag and have had some good partnerships with him, so that would help Sehwag

the conditions are ideal for him to get that WR, if he stays focused and shows the same intensity that he showed on Day 3, there is no reason why he can't get to that mark

he is probably the only Indian batsman in the current line up who has the capability to get to that mark as scoring that kind of runs not only requires the ability to stay at the crease [which some batsman have in team Ind] but also score at a breath-taking strike rate [which not many do in tests for Ind]

i guess every Ind cricket fan would be rooting for him to get that .... the WR is on

 

[SJS]

i guess every Ind cricket fan would be rooting for him to get that .... the WR is on

Yes it is

BTW, If Sehwag gets the world record it will be the first time since Bradman's 334 in 1930 that a player will get to a world record when there will be no possibility of a discussion on India prolonging the innings un-necessarily or just to allow him to get a world record.

India are likely to be not more than about a hundred runs ahead on first innings when he reaches the mile stone if that.

 

[SJS]

Due to all the runs he has scored on the flat pitches in Australia...

There is no doubting his ability to absolutely murder even the best of bowlers on really good batting wickets or even wickets which are helping the spinners, but there are severe doubts over his ability to succeed when conditions are favourable to seam bowling.

This doesn't mean he isn't a good player as scoring such huge runs against good bowling - flat tracks or not - is very, very impressive, but it does preclude him from the being the all time great his average suggests he is.

Thats interesting. A lot of his runs ARE scored on batting friendly wickets but clearly such wickets abound all over the globe.

There are a few innings of Sehwag that stand out for the lone hand played.

Melbourne Dec 2003 : 195 (233 balls) versus Australia
Sehwag scored the near double hundred in a mere 233 deliveries. He got out at 233 for 4. The rest of the batting collapsed for just another 33 runs ! No Indian batsman got a 50 in the innings of 366.

Chidambaram Stadium Oct 2004 : 155 (221 balls) versus Australia
Australia were bowled out for a paltry 235 runs in their first innings. India reached 233 for 6. This included Dravid 26, Ganguly 9, Laxman 4, Yuvraj 8 and Pathan 14. Sehwag stood alone amongst the ruins and was the sixth batsman out for 155 runs. Only a pluckky 99 run partnership between kaif and Parthiv Patel allowed India to overtake Australia's modest first innings score.

Adelaide A\Jan 2008 : 151 (236 balls) versus Australia.
It was India's second innings. No Indian batsman crossed 20. It was a miserable tale - Dravid 11. Tendulkar 13, Ganguly 18, Laxman 12, Dhoni 20, Pathan 0 ! Sehwag was 6th out at 253 !

I dont want to go into the quality of these tracks but if a batsman can score big hundreds while others around him are floundering, I will pick him each and every time.

 

[Sanz]

Er... did you watch those games? Both pitches were very flat.

Yes I did, Did You ?

 

[Jono]

Chidambaram Stadium Oct 2004 : 155 (221 balls) versus Australia
Australia were bowled out for a paltry 235 runs in their first innings. India reached 233 for 6. This included Dravid 26, Ganguly 9, Laxman 4, Yuvraj 8 and Pathan 14. Sehwag stood alone amongst the ruins and was the sixth batsman out for 155 runs. Only a pluckky 99 run partnership between kaif and Parthiv Patel allowed India to overtake Australia's modest first innings score.

IMO still his best knock ever, that was tremendous and it was unfortunate he threw it away holing out to Warne.

At that time (late 2004/early 2005) Sehwag was one of the three best test batsman in world cricket in my view. Hopefully he gets back to that state soon.

 

[ret]

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/indvrsa/content/current/story/344334.html

Virender Sehwag admitted that being dropped from the Test side "motivated" him to concentrate better, enabling him to produce what he termed as his "best innings". Sehwag spent the whole of the last year out of the Test side but returned with two outstanding hundreds in consecutive Tests.

"When I was dropped from the Test squad I was hurt because I have a good record in Test cricket," he said after his 278-ball triple hundred on the third day of the first Test. "So I was looking to prove to myself that I am a good Test player and deserve a place in the team. But that feeling of hurt was also good for me because I was able to motivate myself and concentrate better."

Exactly four years earlier Sehwag started his other epic (309 against Pakistan in Multan) but rated this innings ahead of that one. "I will say this is my best Test innings because I made 300 and scored at more than run a ball," he said. "In Multan the wicket was better than this and the conditions were not hot and humid when we played there. I don't think I showed so much patience and concentration in Pakistan. I wanted to prove to myself that I belong here and there is no better way than playing a big knock and scoring a triple century."

Sehwag is now 91 short of Brian Lara's world-record 400 but he insisted that it wouldn't be on his mind when he took the field tomorrow. "I was not thinking about Lara's record at all. Anil Kumble told me that my job is to stay till the end. Even tomorrow when I come to bat I won't be thinking about Lara's record. I will just look to bat for one session and I think if I bat till lunch I will come close to Lara's record."

He admitted he wasn't tired - "My face will tell you that I am pretty fresh now" - but added that he had to counter demanding conditions. "It is very difficult in Chennai because it is very humid," he said. "You lose a lot of water from your body and a lot of salt. Thanks to the physio [Paul Close] and Paddy [Upton] who was looking after me very well and sending some salt water and coconut water every time the drinks came on. I want to thank even my colleagues like Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla and Yuvraj Singh, who were looking after my drinks. They helped me a lot during the drinks break."

Sehwag's innings was filled with unconventional stroke-play, including several cheeky reverse-sweeps off left-arm spinner Paul Harris. "I was trying not to let him settle down," he said. "If I would have looked to pad down his negative line the whole day maybe I would not have scored 300. I was positive because I knew that the wicket was not that rough so there would not be much spin. I was confident that when I stepped down the wicket or played the reverse sweep, it would connect and it did."

Did he think he had put India in a position to win the match? "Our chances of winning are bright but it depends on how we bat tomorrow. If we bat well and cross their score then maybe they will feel the pressure of batting on the last day and will look to play for a draw. [We're looking for a lead of] anything over 200 runs. South Africa scored 540 so we will look to score more than 700 and declare. And with Kumble and Harbhajan Singh getting to turn the ball hopefully we will get some result."

so he won't be thinking abt Lara's record but will be looking to bat to get Ind into a stronger position .... which means he probably will get that record

 

[ret]

Mickey Arthur, South Africa's coach, couldn't believe what he saw. "I think that's the best Test-match innings I've ever seen," he said. "The way he played today was absolutely amazing. We tried to attack him, we defended against him, tried to bowl straight lines, bowl wide, over the wicket, round the wicket, did everything possible. And he countered us."

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/indvrsa/content/current/story/344310.html

Arthur rates it as the best he is ever seen

 

[Cevno]

It would be intersting to see a hayden vs sehwag debate.
Both are FTB but both have played some important knocks in tough conditions too ,while sehwag carries on hayden usually does not go too much beyond a 100 Though hayden has scored more centuries.

 

[Raghav]

As Arthur said that he did not have points to motivate his guys.....that sumsup the situation for SA's . But Still I feel if SA get that Sehwag wicket eraly, they will feel lot more relieved and can put some brakes on Indian scoring. I wish they get that early wicket of Sehwag and stop India from scoring more than 650. They can bat on final day slowly for a day. Win for either of the sides IMO is completely out of question.

 

[aussie]

It would be intersting to see a hayden vs sehwag debate.
Both are FTB but both have played some important knocks in tough conditions too ,while sehwag carries on hayden usually does not go too much beyond a 100 Though hayden has scored more centuries.

Well since a key quality in rating how good a batsman is runs he scores in tough conditons againts top quality bowling & not when he has the luxury of a flat deck.

Based on what i've seen of Hayden & Sehwag although both have smoked bowler on unresponsive decks (Sehwag more cruelly of course) when it isn't that easy & the bowlers are on top Hayden has done considerably better which pretty much makes Hayden wins it hands down ATS.

But in the past two innings i don't know i sense a difference in the way Sehwag is batting, i.e he seems more patient & his shot selection has improved. So its possible in the future Sehwag if he faces a good attack in tough conditions he could do well, thats when the Hayden vs Sehwag debate would really take off.

 

[Cevno]

http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/63998.html
http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/63951.html
http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/64061.html
http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/64100.html
http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/64127.html
http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/64082.html

All these knocks by sehwag were not exactly flat tracks.Just see the contribution in terms of how the other's have performed with respect to him in the team.

 

[Cevno]

Well since a key quality in rating how good a batsman is runs he scores in tough conditons againts top quality bowling & not when he has the luxury of a flat deck.

Based on what i've seen of Hayden & Sehwag although both have smoked bowler on unresponsive decks (Sehwag more cruelly of course) when it isn't that easy & the bowlers are on top Hayden has done considerably better which pretty much makes Hayden wins it hands down ATS.

But in the past two innings i don't know i sense a difference in the way Sehwag is batting, i.e he seems more patient & his shot selection has improved. So its possible in the future Sehwag if he faces a good attack in tough conditions he could do well, thats when the Hayden vs Sehwag debate would really take off.

Hayden's record away from home isn't too clever.is it?
Sehwag has played many knocks on non-flat tracks too.Just see my above post.

 

[ret]

Well since a key quality in rating how good a batsman is runs he scores in tough conditons againts top quality bowling & not when he has the luxury of a flat deck.

Based on what i've seen of Hayden & Sehwag although both have smoked bowler on unresponsive decks (Sehwag more cruelly of course) when it isn't that easy & the bowlers are on top Hayden has done considerably better which pretty much makes Hayden wins it hands down ATS.

But in the past two innings i don't know i sense a difference in the way Sehwag is batting, i.e he seems more patient & his shot selection has improved. So its possible in the future Sehwag if he faces a good attack in tough conditions he could do well, thats when the Hayden vs Sehwag debate would really take off.

which one of the below would be scoring against a better attack

Sehwag vs the Aus attack
Hayden vs the Ind attack

and when you consider top attacks like that of Eng, RSA and Pak, along with SL in SL, i guess, overall Sehwag might just edge Hayden out

 

[Prince EWS]

http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/63998.html
http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/63951.html
http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/64061.html
http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/64100.html
http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/64127.html
http://stats.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/332911.html
http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/64082.html

All these knocks by sehwag were not exactly flat tracks.Just see the contribution in terms of how the other's have performed with respect to him in the team.

Stopped reading after the first one, given the fact that the scorecard suggested the pitch was flatter than Calista Flockhart...

 

[Majin]

http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/63998.html
http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/63951.html
http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/64061.html
http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/64100.html
http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/64127.html
http://stats.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/332911.html
http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/64082.html

All these knocks by sehwag were not exactly flat tracks.Just see the contribution in terms of how the other's have performed with respect to him in the team.

Not exactly sure what you're trying to prove with those links, all bar 1 have the team India were facing scoring at least 500 runs or near enough to it in one of their innings, which would suggest the Indian lineup bar Sehwag just failed miserably. The conditions can't exactly have been bad in any of them considering the amount of runs scored