Related Links

- Aravind (GOLDEN DEBUT MATCH : India Vs South Africa, 1st Test Match at Bloemfontein, 2003)

Dream runs in sport are rare. The path is strewn with failures, pain and agony as targets are set higher and higher. They are sometimes met with success and at times with failure. It is akin to a roller coaster. But very few can even dream of making a start into the Indian test side as has been done by Virender Sehwag.

Few will remember Sehwag’s one-day debut, against Pakistan at Mohali in the year 1999, when Shoaib trapped him lbw for 1 and was then hammered in the three overs he bowled. He could have played in the 1999 world cup - he made the 19 probables but not the final cut. After two years, he was recalled for the match against Zimbabwe in Kanpur. In the eleven matches that followed, he scored 19, 58, 2, 11, 4, 2, 0, 12, 33, 27 and 0 with an average of 14 which was hardly enough for a middle order batsman to hold his place in a team which had lots of exciting players like Badani, Kaif, Laxman, Sodhi and others around waiting for a chance. 2nd august match against Kiwis in the coca-cola cup held in Sri Lanka changed everything for this diminutive middle order batsman including his batting position.

Required to chase an imposing 265, after a sloppy performance in the field, India powered to a seven wicket victory over New Zealand, as Virender Sehwag, opening the innings in the absence of Sachin Tendulkar, thumped the seventh fastest century in the history of one-day cricket and the second fastest by an Indian.

Even as Sehwag blazed away to the 68-ball century, the sixth fastest in one-day internationals, the selectors did not pick him in the 16- member team for the three Test series against Sri Lanka which started a week after the finals. "One-day cricket is entirely different from Tests," reasoned BCCI secretary and selection committee convener JY Lele." Sehwag was included in the Indian team purely as a one-day player. At any cost this century is not going to help him make it to the Test squad ". He was run out for 4 in the finals against Sri Lanka.

How Sehwag earned a place in the Indian Test Squad

In the odi's in South Africa, he was consistent with the scores of 5, 33, 55 no , 4, 55 no and 34. In the test series that followed the odi's, Sadagoppan Ramesh opted out due to injury and Kaif was dropped due to unimpressive performance (including the winning boundary he scored in the second test when the skipper Ganguly was not out in the other end on 98). Sehwag's consistency in odi's was rewarded with a test place as he replaced Kaif (who scored 37, 14, 17, 19, 14 and 5 in the test series in SL) as a middle order batsman for the first test of Castle Lager-MTN Summer Spice Test Series at Goodyear Park, Bloemfontein.

And the match starts ...

Shaun Pollock made no mistake after winning the toss; he put India to bat first, invariably trying to get maximum out of the little moisture trapped in the pitch. Rahul Dravid volunteering to open the batting meant that Virender Sehwag could be accommodated in the side. Having got selected ahead of Connor Williams, Sehwag had to play at his very best to justify his inclusion.

India had suffered two setbacks even before a ball was bowled. Harbhajan Singh, of whom so much was expected on this tour, was ruled out by epididimytis. And then, during the Indian warm-up, wicketkeeper Sameer Dighe pulled a back muscle and had to be replaced by Deep Dasgupta.

From these unpromising beginnings, the day rapidly got worse for India. Makeshift opener Dravid made just 2 before edging Pollock to Jacques Kallis at second slip (India 7 for 1). His partner SS Das made 9 before chopping Nantie Hayward onto his off stump (India 43 for 2) and then VVS Laxman, who had made a sprightly 32, was caught down the leg side off Hayward (India 51 for 3). Kallis got one to kick up at Sourav Ganguly and the ball lobbed off the splice into the gully where Gary Kirsten dived forward to take a fine catch (India 68 for 4).

Sehwag walks in to bat for the 1st time in his Test Career

Already under lots of pressure to perform and the team in trouble at 68/4 , Sehwag joined Tendulkar when the Indian top order surrendered without a fight and when even 100 looked difficult to get. Sachin told Sehwag `I know you're tense. You're never going to be this tense again, so enjoy the moment'. South Africa were clearly in charge with the innings on the verge of collapse. But Tendulkar had other ideas. At one point, just before lunch, he hit eight fours in 18 balls. He carried the attack to the South Africans with such force that India arrived at lunch on 123 for four.

Tendulkar's innings had character and it seems the maestro can only get better. He unleashed an amazing repertoire of strokes to push Pollock and Co. to despair. The manner in which he played those short- pitched deliveries to third-man was sheer joy to watch. Only a player of true genius could play such strokes; no wonder then that Tendulkar reminded Sir Don Bradman of his early days. The floodlights were turned on for the last hour but the glow that suffused the first day came largely from a majestic Sachin Tendulkar century. Tendulkar has made higher Test match scores, but he can rarely, if ever, have played better than in taking 155 of a South African attack that had threatened to rip through the Indian batting. It was his 26th Test century and on the way to it he became the second Indian to reach 7000 Test runs.

There was also some puzzling captaincy. Both Tendulkar and Sehwag milked the absence of a third man, deliberately on most occasions and any number of runs came through, past or over the slip cordon. Pollock clearly believed there was still something in the pitch for his bowlers, but the South African attack was too often wayward and the home side leaked runs in this area.

Ironically, it was Ntini, on the day the weakest of the South African bowlers, who finally got rid of the Little Master with a short one that Tendulkar pulled for Neil McKenzie to take a well-judged catch coming in from the square leg boundary. By then, though, India had reached 288 for five and the initiative had firmly been wrested away from the South Africans.

Sehwag played his hand perfectly, lending support to his senior partner throughout their stand and then stepping up a gear once Tendulkar had departed. Sehwag's knock was a treat to watch, his composure was impeccable and his poise was of the highest order. Particularly impressive was his back-foot play and the shots that he played through the offside. His timing and the way he left the short-pitched deliveries go, were clearly the signs of a class player. Even though this was not the best South African attack by a long way, Sehwag's technique and competence gave one the impression that Tendulkar was batting on both ends.

And it is a century on Debut ...

Sehwag got his hundred soon in just 153 balls. After Sachin's dismissal Sehwag dominated a 63-run partnership with Dasgupta for the sixth wicket before Pollock finally squeezed one between bat and pad to bowl him. He scored 105 off 173 deliveries with 19 boundaries.

As many as 77 off his 105 runs came from glorious cover drives and the cut over the slips. Only 28 runs were scored in the leg side but that's mainly due to the line and length bowled by the South African bowlers - outside off and short of good length .

Even as Sehwag was matching the versatile Tendulkar on the cricket field in Bloemfontein and making history on his Test debut, his performance surprised neither his fans nor the coach. It was on expected lines for them.

What followed next in Virender Sehwag's International Career

The arrival of Sehwag as a wonderful strokemaker may have attracted great media attention but those who know him intimately had always backed this rustic cricketer as one furious belter of the ball. The century on his first Test appearance was just the right ‘boost’ for Sehwag, who had worked hard the last two years to get back into the national side.

When he arrived in the Delhi team, Sehwag was known as a big hitter. His short stature was not a handicap at all because he would launch into a charge from the first ball. This aggressive approach was the strong point of his batsmanship. "He hits the ball very hard," his mates would say. And it does not matter what the bowler bowls - seam or spin.

Sehwag makes no secret of the fact that he has modeled his game on Tendulkar. "But please don't compare us," he had pleaded on return from Sri Lanka. The comparisons with Tendulkar left him deeply embarrassed but then he was hardly at fault.

For those who rated Sehwag a champion batsman only against the spinners, his century against South Africa may have revealed the other side of this batsman. His guts and temperament and his ability to dominate the seamers. Sehwag has never claimed to be a technically accomplished batsman but his shot selection at Bloemfontein was impeccable.

Sehwag is an attacking batsman and it was an attacking innings that he produced against the Proteas. Nine years ago, Pravin Amre had achieved a similar distinction on a lively track at Durban but then was lost to Indian cricket soon because none backed him. Credit here ought to be given to Sourav Ganguly, who was the most vocal supporter of Sehwag. The Indian skipper wanted Sehwag to be retained at all costs after the one dayers and the selectors relented after much thought.

The media focus and the adulation from millions of people has not affected Sehwag's approach to life and cricket. He has remained as approachable and warm as ever with his greatest support coming from the Delhi dressing room. "He's a simple soul and I know he will remain so," said the then Delhi captain Vijay Dahiya with authority.

Occasionally, Sehwag goes back to his old neighborhood of Najafgarh on the outskirts of New Delhi, distributes some pocket money to the local boys, instructs them in square cuts and backfoot punches, and lets them in on the key to his success. "I didn't have any connections," he lectures. "I just worked hard and played well. If you are talented, you will definitely get a chance."
 

Top of the Page