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FEELING THE STRAIN:Virender
Sehwag did not know how to
dedicate himself to disciplined
training. It was only during
periods of relative poor form
that he was prepared to spend
time getting things back on
track.— PHOTO: PTI
Like many others I am sure, I
was saddened to see Virender
Sehwag left out of the Indian
team this week. Despite my
frustrations with him during
my tenure as Indian coach I
could not help but love him. He
is, after all, a loveable rogue.
And he can bat better than
most.
In fact, he is the most gifted
ball striker that I have seen. I
remember well the first time I
was able to watch him up close.
It was in Bangalore soon after I
began as national coach.
Viru arrived early for an
Indian team camp at a time
when 30 of the best pace
bowlers from around India
were finishing off a camp of
their own. He asked if he could
have a hit against some of them
in a centre wicket session.
We were on the NCA ground
which is wedged in the triangle
formed by the confluence of
Cubbon and Queen Roads to the
side of Chinnaswamy stadium.
The wicket was well grassed
and bouncy, but he walked in
with a new bat and hit
everything sweetly from the
middle.
Considering the wicket and that
the bowlers were swinging,
seaming and bouncing the ball
disconcertedly, this was as
awesome a display of menacing
power and precision batting as
I had witnessed. I was excited
about working with someone
with such sublime skill.
To say that Viru was one of the
great frustrations of my time
with the team is an
understatement. Sadly, he
continues to disappoint and is
in danger of squandering his
God-given talent. The person
who is least likely to be fazed
by all of this is Virender
himself.
What I soon learned about him
was that Viru did not want to
dedicate himself to taking his
talent to its zenith. He was
happy to turn up and play and
accept what came his way. No
amount of cajoling from me
could shift him from his
insouciant way.
This often happens to those
with the greatest gift. Because
he had never had to work hard
at developing such a skill, Viru
did not know how to dedicate
himself to disciplined training.
It was only during periods of
relative poor form that he was
prepared to spend time getting
things back on track. As soon
as he made some runs he
slipped back into old habits and
appeared content to practise in
the same old profligate way;
until his form evaporated
again.
His idea of a practice session
was to hit the bowlers as hard
and as far as he could as often
as he could.
Most balls were hit in the air
with no regard to whether or
not they were out. I tried to
encourage him to work on
developing his range by playing
each ball on its merit and
developing some power shots on
the leg side against pace.
Because Viru was so strong on
the off side and only wanted to
play on that side of the wicket,
teams bowled very straight to
him to deny him room to free
his arms to hit the ball through
that side.
I tried to explain to him that, if
he was prepared to work on
developing leg side options
against the faster bowlers, it
would, in fact, force them to
bowl more to his strength. He
wasn’t interested.
Frustrating
The other area of frustration
for me was that he did not keep
himself in good shape and
would often be troubled by a
back ailment that restricted
him in the field and made him
even less likely to want to put
time into expanding his ability.
Apart from his batting skills, he
is a very talented off-spin
bowler and he should have
been the best slip fielder in the
team, but he eschewed the
responsibility at every
opportunity.
Strangely, for someone who
only wants to play the game on
his terms, he harbours a desire
to captain his country. I have
no doubt that he could do it for
he understands the game well,
but what he fails to grasp is
that with the honour comes
responsibility. In fact, the
responsibility to show personal
leadership has to come before
one can earn the higher
honour. He wants the prize, but
has been unwilling to pay the
price.
The surprising thing was that
when Viru got runs in 50-over
cricket, India often lost. For one
thing, he seemed more
concerned with his strike rate
than the bigger picture. He
would play shots from the first
ball and not stop until he got
out, which was often just when
the team needed him to go on to
a big score.
Usually, if he got a start, he
would get away to such a flyer
it would get everyone at the
ground excited, including his
team-mates who would then
think that they should score
300 plus. Once Virender got out,
the good start was often
squandered by the loss of
multiple wickets as others tried
to maintain the frenetic run-
rate and generally the game
would slip away. Seven years
on, nothing much has changed.
He has worked on his fitness
and appears to be in better
condition, but on the evidence
of his training in Australia
early this year he still practises
the way he has always done
and the results, unsurprisingly,
are similar.
It is unlikely that Sehwag will
ever change. It is probably too
late now. But, if Dhoni and the
selectors have decided that
enough is enough and that they
have a better chance of
winning the World Twenty20
without him, I reckon the
Australian bowlers will breathe
a little easier on Friday.
Author
Topic: Greg Chappell on Viru... (Read 3547 times)