It has almost become monotonously repetitive with Virender Sehwag. He may have missed out on a record third triple century, but the manner in which he looks to be batting these days – or probably bats usually – it will only be a matter of time before he gets another opportunity to do so! Such was the daredevilry that the Nawab showed on the second day of the third test match, that for the 10k odd of those who had turned out, it proved to be a day of celebrations and fun and frolic and a whole lot of runs that flowed from his bat.
It is difficult to rate Sehwag’s innings. Because, not before long, there would be another one that would not be too dissimilar from the one played previously and that would put the experts in a quandary. Take the example of this 293. 284 off those runs came in one day’s – minus the 45 minutes at the start for Sri Lanka – play. Usually, 284 would be the number of runs one would associate with a team in a day’s play, and here was Sehwag treating every bowler as a battering ram and getting them off his own bat.
In the process he also got to the fastest ever 250 in the history of test match cricket – there have been 75 knocks of 250 or more in tests – and got the Indians into a position that one could have never imagined at the start of the day. In fact, with the Lankans having got to a near-400 total, most experts thought that it was a score to reckon on a track that had enough help on it for the bowlers. The quicker bowlers were getting the assistance in the form of swing, while the spinners had been afforded enough bounce to keep those short-leg and bat-pad fielders interested.
Sehwag dismissed all of them; bowlers, pundits, experts and created enough room for his side from where they can now dictate terms. Already at lunch, the Indians had been around 150 ahead, and another 150 runs of credit could almost end any hopes that Sri Lanka has of winning a test match in the country. At least for some time. What has obviously helped is the rate at which Sehwag has played, which will assist the Indians into achieving the lead of 300 runs with two days of cricket still remaining despite a first innings total of a near-400.
From the Sri Lankan perspective, the Sehwag blitzkrieg would have hit their morale hard. The dent would be evident and with a couple of T20Is and five ODIs still to follow, it remains to be seen how the Sri Lankans bounce back from this savage attack in not only this game, but the rest of the tour as well!