First match,no match

The locals had partied for weeks on end in Dhaka,reaching boiling point outside the venue in Mirpur,delirious in the feverish glow of hosting their first World Cup match. But once they got inside this evening,Sehwag stole their voices off the very first ball,stroking fast bowler Shafiul Islam through the covers for a boundary,before going to work on 25,000 egos during the remaining 138 balls that he faced.

By the time his mammoth innings and highest ODI score of 175 came to an end,Sehwag had toyed ruthlessly with the emotions of a country,bloating India’s total to 370/4 — accentuated with his 14 fours and five meaty sixes.

Despite Bangladesh getting off to a scorching start under the lights,there was always a sense of inevitability about it,thanks to Sehwag’s 175 and the weight of 370.

Imrul Kayes,Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan (the last two were also the heroes of India’s 2007 World Cup defeat) may have reduced the margin of defeat to just 87 runs — sending the crowd into high-decibel raptures — but even the staunchest supporters didn’t truly believe that the volatile batting would convert into a successful chase.

In stark contrast,cold silence and long,hard stares followed each of Sehwag’s hits in the afternoon but he wasn’t complaining.

After being knocked out four years ago by Bangladesh in the Caribbean,Sehwag had promised revenge,and on Saturday,he extracted it with a vengeance. And the setting couldn’t have been more appropriate — the opening game behind enemy lines in Bangladesh’s premier cricket stadium.

For a format that almost seems to be designed for his explosions with the bat,Sehwag’s landmark innings arrived during his 230th attempt. It was an innings that nearly witnessed the impossible —  the opener carrying his bat through. Just about a week ago,Sehwag had revealed his wish to play till the 50th over of a match. It nearly came true,falling short of this target by just 2.3 overs — the longest he has ever played in an ODI game.

It was a side of Sehwag never witnessed before. While it may have started with fluid strokeplay through the ‘V’,lacing the cover and midwicket boundaries with drives and tennis-like forehand cracks,Sehwag dropped anchor during the middle overs,refusing to go over the top even once,let alone clearing the inner circle.

He treated Bangladesh’s many left-arm spinners with a new-found respect to get to 49,opening his arms and planting the ball in the stands for the first time in the game to reach his 50.

The next 50 took as many balls,runs that mainly came in singles and twos. But soon after reaching his second World Cup hundred,and his 14th overall,Sehwag unleashed mayhem like old. The Indian dressing room stood as one without reminder on his dismissal 25 runs short of a double ton,but this time,so did a few thousand Bangladeshis happy to see his back.