End of the road for Viru?

When Virender Sehwag first burst onto the Indian cricket scene, comparisons with Sachin Tendulkar were drawn. The batting stance, the straight drives and the hand-eye co-ordination – the resemblance was uncanny! Rightly so, he followed the Little Master’s footsteps in becoming a double centurion when he tore apart the West Indies bowling attack to a world record score of 219.

Two years hence, life has come a full circle for the Nawab of Najafgarh. At the same ground where he scored the double century, he scored a quickfire 59 off 38 balls against India Blue in the Challenger Trophy, in the same nonchalance that made him one of the most destructive openers once. However, any hopes of a fight for a place in the Indian squad were quickly dispelled with dismal scores of 8 and 5 in the next games. Sehwag has been the blue eyed boy of Indian cricket for a long time, and one of the best openers we have produced, but the soon to be 35 year old Viru may well be past his prime now. Strangely though,  his ex-Delhi and India opening partner, Gautam Gambhir, with whom he shared many century stands shares a similar fate, what with the new crop of youngsters carrying the mantle of Indian cricket.

Questions were asked regarding his much famed reflexes slowing down when he debuted in spectacles against Australia earlier this year. He is soon to be 35 and even in the glory days of his career, he wasn’t ever known for his fitness. His coveted opening spot has now been grabbed by Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma, both of whom have been in the form of their lives lately and have not given the selectors any reason to be doubting their selection. In the Challenger Trophy, he dropped down the order, a slot he says is his preference, however, he could not impress much. With Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement and the coveted and crucial #4 slot up for grabs, it seems highly unlikely that he is even in the reckoning for that. There have been calls for Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma to occupy that position in Tests. No doubt, Sehwag has been one of the key players for the Indian team over the past decade, with a knack for scoring big hundreds, however, he may have reached a place where he himself is unsure about his abilities now.

Personally, I would be one of the happiest persons if Sehwag makes a comeback to the international circuit. With important tours coming up for India, the experience of Sehwag could definitely come into play. Out of his 23 centuries in Tests, 10 have come while touring abroad, almost a 50-50 split. However, his current form and fitness do not inspire confidence in the selectors and he has been pushed down the pecking order by the current generation of Indian cricketers.

With the retirement of Sachin Tendulkar, only Sehwag remains from the golden generation of Indian cricket, if you include him in that list, that is. However, you can’t rest on your past laurels, atleast in cricket. However, considering the imminent scenario, I fear that Virender Sehwag might be one of those glorious cricketers who served the country but did not get a proper farewell.

The situation that he is in reminds me of an old TVC featuring Sehwag and “Sehwag Ki Maa Ka Phone” enables him to hit a six. He might need a similar miracle to return to the India Squad. Anyone willing to bet on that happening?