Thought process

Sehwag explains that there are a lot of calculations involved. “I know what shots can be played because I have a basic understanding of the pitch, the hardness of the track and the bounce it will have. If it has a lot of bounce, then you can assume that bowlers will bowl a lot into the body and shots like the cut and pull are always on. Similarly, if the bowler has just been hit for a four on a length ball, you can expect him to bowl back of a length. We always try and anticipate what’s running through the bowler’s mind,” he says. “But the most important thing is to play our natural game, no matter what,” adds Sehwag.

Message for Srikkanth

Srikkanth recalls numerous team meetings he was part of with Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, where the team dwelled on the need to understand the match situation and play according to that. “But the best part came after that. Both Gavaskar and Kapil used to take me out after the meeting to ask if I followed anything that was said. When I said yes, they’d say, ‘Please don’t understand, because all that was discussed was not for you, it was for everybody else. You play you natural game’,” he laughs.

Mutual admiration

“Obviously, there’s a high element of risk involved in our style of play. I would have played great innings in three out of 10 innings and on those occasions, I would have won the match for India. But Viru is better than me, he has more consistency and can win six out of 10 games. He has a better temperament than me,” he declares. “I am a huge fan of Sehwag.”

... contd.