The Chepauk performance should help rebuild Sehwag’s self-confidence and restore his belief in his own talents. Of all the outstanding batsmen who have performed at the international level with such elan in recent years, he displays the most uncanny coordination between limbs and eyes. If this were not so, he would not have been able to get in the middle of the bat a ball spinning with the variation of Shane Warne or with the deadly swing at 90 mph from Shoaib Akhtar or Brett Lee. His sense of timing is uncanny, resulting in shots executed effortlessly racing to the boundary or sailing over the ropes.

While Sehwag’s rebound is perhaps driven by a sense of deep hurt at not being included in several matches recently, the national selectors and captains of the Indian teams, particularly M.S. Dhoni, must acknowledge Sehwag’s worth by including him in both ODIs and Test matches. It defies logic that Dhoni persevered in Australia with an out of form and injured Yuvraj Singh, keeping Sehwag seated on the bench. Viru was in good form in Australia, requiring just one or two innings to prove his worth, and he is certainly a much better bowler than Yuvraj. In fact, over the years he has shown remarkable control with his off-spin and an ability to outwit many a batsman. Yet, he has remained under-utilised in this department of the game.

Sehwag has many years at the pinnacle of international cricket ahead of him, and who knows, he may someday overhaul Lara’s record of 400 runs. If there is any player equipped in terms of talent, determination and physical fitness to achieve such a feat it is Virendar Sehwag. But for the present we must celebrate his 319 runs at Chepauk and salute him for reaching 300 runs in Test cricket with the lowest number of balls. 1

... contd.