After missing the last two T20 World Cups, Virender Sehwag is back. His form will hold the key to India’s chances.

Named ‘player of the decade’ by The Daily Telegraph, Virender Sehwag is on another high. He talks about his plans.

We can safely assume that two-year-old Aryavir Sehwag gets kissed a lot. But when his father, Virender, is in action on TV, kissee turns kisser.

“My son kissed me on television,” Sehwag said on Friday when asked his family’s reaction to his seat-of-the-pants innings of 293 against Sri Lanka in the third Test at the Brabourne.

Sehwag arrived for the press conference carrying a backpack. Perhaps it contained his batting genius, magically condensed to dimensions that could fit in a knapsack and be handily transported to the next port of call. Not that he was happy to stop batting. After all, he fell just seven short of a record third triple hundred.

“I thought I would get a single from the delivery. But I misjudged its length,” he said of his C&B dismissal by Muttiah Muralitharan, who at last got wickets (four). Sehwag said he felt fine physically but was mentally a little tired.

Nonetheless, he was satisfied with his effort. In expressing it, he also revealed how acutely aware players are of individual milestones, even if they say records do not matter. “Along with two triple hundreds, I now have a 293. Nobody has done that,” Sehwag said.

He also gave evidence of his wit. Someone wanted to know what he did between last evening and Friday morning. “Replied to (text) messages.”
Asked if he believed batsmen should be entertainers, he said, “[It] depends on the individual.”

“What about you?”

“I’m an entertainer.”

As Sehwag spoke, one noticed a picture on the wall behind him. It had CK Nayudu and Douglas Jardine. Nayudu, a big hitter himself, would surely have approved of Sehwag. Jardine would have scratched his chin. On current form, Sehwag would have found a way to even master the bodyline attack.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is an entertainer too. After the departure of Sehwag and then Sachin Tendulkar, the near full house at Brabourne Stadium lost its cheering intensity. But Dhoni’s 400cc hundred brought them to their feet again. The striking thing about Dhoni’s batting is it shows how strong he is. He can power the ball to the boundary even when he has to reach out for the ball, a position in which he can only use his shoulders and forearms and not his full body weight. His big sixes over long on against the left arm spinner Herath, and the one he hooked off the left-arm seamer Wellegedera, evoked gasps in the terraces. If Dhoni were a butcher, he would cut thick slabs of beef, not delicate sushi slivers.

“It was the best hundred by a wicket-keeper or a lower order batsman I have seen,” Sehwag said.

The other exciting batsman of the day was VVS Laxman. Muralitharan packed the on side while bowling to him, but Laxman twice beat the field for boundaries, once with an on-drive, then with a pull. His timing bordered on melodious. There was a square driven four off a slightly short ball delivery from medium-pacer Nuwan Kulasekara. Laxman just leaned back a little and punched the ball to the fence with utter ease. The follow-through was inversely proportional to the distance the ball travelled.

Trevor Bayliss, the Sri Lankan coach, tried to sound optimistic at the end of the day. But there was no conviction in his words. Sri Lanka trail by 322 runs and, as Sehwag reminded a reporter who wanted to know why India did not declare earlier, there are two long days to go. 
“On Day 4 and 5, you’d expect the wicket to turn. We have to bat well,” Bayliss said.

India’s triumph is near certain. And with it, the world No. 1 Test ranking. Start chilling the thandai.