Saeed Anwar vs. Virender Sehwag

[Black_Warrior]

Ignore!

 

[Black_Warrior]

If you were a bowler and given a choice of Anwar or Sehwag to bowl at:

Bowling to Anwar is another day at the office. Not really different from bowling to Kirsten, Taylor, Langer, or Hayden. Smith, Strauss and Gambhir in slightly more recent years. Compared to the slowest of the bunch, Anwar would take you for 15 more runs if you bowled 20 overs to him. So in the worst case it is a hard day at the office.

Bowling to Sehwag is playing Russian roulette. If you are not a top class inswing bowler and the pitch and conditions are not favroable to you, two or three chambers are loaded. If both of those things go your way, may be just one chamber loaded it is. But same game.

So, you ask yourself "Do you feel lucky, punk".

Sehwag's no Bradman in batting skills. But if he gets going for whatever reasons (and even by the definition of his detractors it takes more than one thing to really stop him) he'll blow your away just as thoroughly.


He's not done it just one or two times but ten or twelve times. Saqlain, Akhtar, Lee, Clark, Vaas, Steyn, Ntini, Murali have all failed to contain him, by which one means a 150+ score made at a rate approaching (or sometimes exceeding) a run a ball. Even the firm of McGrath & Warne have held him down to a strike rate of 70. So, it is no dishonor to be so utterly helpless.

Nonetheless, another day at the office sounds good.

The best post. This is exactly what I was talking about with a friend recently. Every once in a while we see a batsman make a bowler helpless, like Tendulkar and Warne in 98. But the number of times Sehwag has made the best look absolutely helpless, forget about Anwar, I think many now would say "i'd rather bowl to Tendulkar than Sehwag coz atleast he wont make me look so ridiculous and helpless"

I know Sehwag has various technical flaws, but his fantastic hand eye coordination far outweighs that. And those complaining about Sehwag's technical flaws, Anwar did not have the greatest technique either. If Sehwag scored on flat subcontinent pitches, do consider that subcontinent pitches were flat even in the 90s, even in the 80s. Check some Pakistan-India test series of the 80s. Most were high scoring draws. Subcontinent, especially Pakistani pitches have always been flat. This is the reason reverse swing was born according to Mr Imran Khan because the ball would get rusty and old so early on these conditions that Pakistan bowlers had no option but to find a way to swing the old ball. So the flat pitches were also available to Anwar. The thing going in Anwar's favour is the quality of the attack he faced, and he was above average to good against them. I remember the 99 series really well. That was the series that made me realize that Anwar wasnt as great as I used to argue (I used to argue that he was better than Tendulkar back then ) because he gave away his wicket at crucial stages due to lapses of concentration that cost Pakistan heavily in that series. I am not trying to bring down Anwar here, he is one of my favourite players, and among the top 3 Pakistani batsmen ever, but we have to put things in perspective here. What Sehwag is doing now is just a class apart. And this is the effect of what he does, a very good batsman like Anwar pales away infront of that.

 

[Sir Alex]

The more runs isn't a issue. Sehwag & India where dominating the test all the way even though he was the only batsman (other than Gambhir) where handling Murali & Mendis well.

AUS & Gilly where playing catch up & where under far more pressure than IND.

Aussies would have booked an early Qantas home had they come up against mendis of 2008 in my opinion. Stop comparing them ok.

 

[aussie]

They had just been raped in the first test and in the Asia cup by Mendis. There was a whole lot of pressure on India before this match. Murali and Mendis when he was sill a mystery is a nightmare come true.

And AUS had never won in SRI before & had a horrible record in the sub-continent. The pressure is comparable & runs Gilly scored is compared. Dont see what the big deal is tbh.

Aussies would have booked an early Qantas home had they come up against mendis of 2008 in my opinion. Stop comparing them ok.

Ha ye the 2008 team for sure. But AUS at their peak 2004 i would have backed them since Murali at peak form 2004 Mendis mystery peak 2008.

 

[Sir Alex]

And AUS had never won in SRI before & had a horrible record in the sub-continent. The pressure is comparable & runs Gilly scored is compared. Dont see what the big deal is tbh.




Ha ye the 2008 team for sure. But AUS at their peak 2004 i would have backed them since Murali at peak form 2004 Mendis mystery peak 2008.

Murali at peak is easier to tackle than Mendis in 2008. Indians have traditionally tackled Murali well however came all croppers against Mendis.

 

[Black_Warrior]

Murali at peak is easier than Mendis?? dont think many people will buy that mate!

 

[Sir Alex]

Murali at peak is easier than Mendis?? dont think many people will buy that mate!

Not Mendis of today but Mendis 2008 was more threatening to Indian batsmen than Murali at his peak.

 

[aussie]

Not Mendis of today but Mendis 2008 was more threatening to Indian batsmen than Murali at his peak.

Highly doubt that. Murali vs IND 01 in SRI was superb, plus his 7/100 in Chennai 2005 one of the best spells of spin bowling i have seen (that ball to Dhoni MY GOD). Mendis in 2008 although he was dangerous, was a level below that IMO.

 

[Sir Alex]

Highly doubt that. Murali vs IND 01 in SRI was superb, plus his 7/100 in Chennai 2005 one of the best spells of spin bowling i have seen (that ball to Dhoni MY GOD). Mendis in 2008 although he was dangerous, was a level below that IMO.

You may safely trash that doubt. Murali might have dominated Indians in one or two series, but never like what mendis did in 2008, Murali never had competition from his own bowlers during his peak, but mendis outdid Murali and ended up with scarcely believable haul of 26 wickets @ 18 a piece. Murali has never done anything better than that against Indians.

 

[chicane]

Yeah, I can't think of another spinner that has comprehensively owned a typically spin capable Indian batting team like Mendis did during that time.

 

[G.I.Joe]

Yeah, I can't think of another spinner that has comprehensively owned a typically spin capable Indian batting team like Mendis did during that time.

Saqlain Mushtaq in '99?

 

[honestbharani]

Saqlain Mushtaq in '99?

The batting strengths hardly comparable IMO..

 

[Xuhaib]

The batting strengths hardly comparable IMO..

the same batting destroyed Warne a year earlier.

 

[Shri]

Sachin Tendulkar destroyed Warne a year earlier.

Fixed.

 

[Top_Cat]

Fixed.

Yeh exactly. Worse batting line-ups than that have destroyed every visiting leg-spinner to India since Benaud.

 

[honestbharani]

the same batting destroyed Warne a year earlier.

I know.. still not comparable... I think the current batting is MUCH better than that batting. And wasn't Sidhu missing in that Pak series? Him and Sachin were the MAIN reasons for that domination..

 

[aussie]

You may safely trash that doubt. Murali might have dominated Indians in one or two series, but never like what mendis did in 2008,

So you would say Mendis in SRI 01 was more deadly to IND, than Murali IN SRI 2001?

Murali never had competition from his own bowlers during his peak, but mendis outdid Murali and ended up with scarcely believable haul of 26 wickets @ 18 a piece.

But in another thread you told me that you reckoned Murali was not at his peak, rather than Mendis genuinely outbowling him.

In 2008 series against India, Murali was not spinning great as he used to. He benefited from some lower order wickets as well thanks to Mendis.

Murali has never done anything better than that against Indians.

Murali 23 @ 19 in that 01 series (although Tendy didn't play not sure if he would have made HUGE difference then tbf) is comparable.

 

[Pratters]

Fixed.

Sidhu was a key player in that series whose contribution is often forgotten.

 

[Furball]

Yeah, I can't think of another spinner that has comprehensively owned a typically spin capable Indian batting team like Mendis did during that time.

But he didn't "own" that lineup. Sehwag in particular, Gambhir and Tendulkar were relatively untroubled.

13 of his 26 wickets were numbers 7 or less, Sehwag and Ganguly were never dismissed by him and Tendulkar just once.

 

[Top_Cat]

But he didn't "own" that lineup. Sehwag in particular, Gambhir and Tendulkar were relatively untroubled.

13 of his 26 wickets were numbers 7 or less, Sehwag and Ganguly were never dismissed by him and Tendulkar just once.

Yeah completely agree. I mean, props to Mendis in his first series for taking so many poles but geez, talk about overstating it.....