An Observation - Sehwag

There was a huge roar when the India openers – Veeru and Gambhir came in to bat. After Gambhir going early and India getting into an uncomfortable position, Sehwag thwacked one from Gul into the leg side for four in a manner which only he can execute. He timed the ball beautifully and was very comfortable at the crease – against Gul at least.

At the other end, Asif was bowling beautifully. He took complete advantage of his front-on action. He released the ball smoothly and got sharp movement into the right hander. Furthermore, he kept the ball at that length which made things difficult for the batsmen. The length was such that more often than not the batsman was indecisive as to whether to come on the front foot or go back.

This meant that the Indian batsmen had to be careful to keep the gap between bat and pad very small. Just when all this was being thought of, it was noted that Sehwag was batting. He is lazy at the crease and his feet are rooted to the ground in some situations. Unfortunately that was what was happening to him at that point in time.

The further up Asif pitched the ball, the greater the chance he had of picking up Sehwag’s wicket. Sehwag has the tendency to attempt a cut at any ball even slightly outside the off stump and therefore any ball pitched up, just outside off stump would do the trick. And it did! Sehwag attempted to cut a ball pitched too far up for that shot. It got the under edge and he played onto the stumps.

The ball had come in off the track as well. This meant that the ball was not wide enough to cut. So Sehwag was effectively cutting at a ball, which was neither short enough nor wide enough to cut. Now that’s when you get out.-BS