There were comparisons with another short, free-flowing swinger initially, but Najafgarh’s Tendulkar soon stepped out of his idol’s shadow by stamping his originality. Never more clearly than in Bangalore that December when he charged down the track against Ashley Giles’s negative leg-stump line and inspired the long-suffering Tendulkar to do the same from the other end. The cricket world had to accept that Sehwag was unique, different from any other player when analysed in totality.

But the story of Sehwag, the batsman, is not just a modern-day fable about hand-eye coordination, balance, the will to take risks, and the resolve to back yourself against any odds. There is a parallel story-line in which he is criticised for being reckless, the shortcomings in his technique are highlighted by experts in tacky e-stadiums on TV channels, and there’s a constant debate on how many times he has let India down by losing his head when he should’ve used it.

What hardly anyone talks about is how many times Sehwag has been let down by his own illustrious team mates after he’s handed them a Test match on a platter by providing them with the best platform they could’ve ever hoped for. Inevitably, instead of building on a blazing century-stand or a mammoth run-a-ball opening that should bolster the confidence of any middle-order batsman, Team India have crumbled under the weight of his runs.

Sehwag’s unbeaten 201 out of 329 was no isolated case. The Galle collapse —four wickets in 15 minutes for nine runs — was just a more emphatic illustration of how his style of play inexplicably works to the detriment of the other normally free-flowing batsmen who make up the Indian line-up.

The instances are as appalling as they are numerous. At Lord’s in July of 2002, India were 128 for one with Sehwag trotting along on 84 off 95 balls. After his dismissal in the 34th over, Tendulkar scored at a strike-rate of 26, Dravid 28 and Sourav Ganguly 16 — way below their career marks as they discovered demons in the wicket that Sehwag’s batting should’ve dispelled. India were bowled out for 221 and, two days later, lost by 170 runs.

In 2003, his 195 at Melbourne in a single day — India were 141 without loss and 311 when he was the fourth batsman out — led to the last six wickets crumbling for 55 over the next 24 overs. Three mornings later, India lost by nine wickets.

In Bangalore against Pakistan, 14 months later, he got 201 out of the first-innings 449 and 38 off 53 balls as India were 87 without loss on the fifth morning while chasing 383 for victory. But Sehwag’s run-out once again sent defensive chills in the Indian dressing-room. Dravid got 16 off 64 balls, Tendulkar 16 off 98, Laxman five off 29, Ganguly two off 14 and Dinesh Karthik nine off 44. It was soon 164/7 with the run-rate plummeting from 3.6 till Sehwag was at the crease to 1.6 after his departure. Naturally, Pakistan wrapped up the Test in the final session.

Some of these figures had been first highlighted in an article by cricket writer Rahul Bhattacharya more than three years ago. The Galle Test shows that nothing has changed since then. In fact, with Sehwag accounting for 61.09 percent of the team’s total and being involved in an opening stand of 167 — his second-highest for India away from home — things have only become worse as his team mates continue to fritter away the advantage.

Why does this happen time and again? There will be lots of theories, I’m sure, that’s what cricket is all about. But somehow none of them will ever make too much sense to me. Having runs on the board when you step in to bat can only be an advantage, any way you look at it.

kunal.pradhan@expressindia.com