JBH001
International Regular
I know about his 105 but he scored that knock at no.6 (which is imo where he perhaps should be batting unless and until India find someone better) and not as an opening batsman - which is what I am talking about. And no, I do not mean attacks for the last decade, but attacks for the last half a decade (since around 2001/2002 or so).The list misses out Sehwag's knock of 105 on debut against Pollock, Hayward,Ntini and co at Bloemfontein in 2001/2002.
If I were to follow the set theory, the union of all the bowlers would have formed the nucleus of the bowling of all teams over the last decade. Does that mean, whoever scored hundreds during this period should be rated lowly?
I never subscribe to this theory of flat track bully thing. International cricket is international cricket wherever you play , however should be redefined as International cricket without zim and ban at test level. You can't just belittle a player's achievement over a period of time just by this single phrase, i believe.
And I believe he is the most successful batsman outside the subcontinent for quiet sometime now for India , perhaps just behind Dravid. He is one of the rare Indian batsmen who posess more shots on the back foot. Coming to his technique,who cares whether he hits the ball in the air or not? Arvind De Silva hit the ball in the air so often but still did that elegantly. There are so many others around anyway to satisfy the purists.
I am sure he would come out with flying colors when he tours England this year and Australia for the test series. But still, this mediocre attack thing will come back to haunt me for sure....
I really could not care less how many shots he has, better to have a few shots judiciously selected than a whole range of them rashly used. IMO Sehwag simply lacks the technique to be a competent test opener against good pace attacks as he is near helpless against the swinging or seaming ball. He has too much of a reliance on a good eye, and not enough play close to the body, not enough foot to the ball, and not enough discretion and intelligence at the crease to consistently make it against good pace bowlers.
You are right, it will be interesting to see how Sehwag goes in England, though interestingly they arrive in the middle/end of the summer, and also what kind of attack England trundles out. I do think though that he will be completely dominated in Australia (like he was recently in SA) if he opens, unless he works on his batting of course.