Virendra Sehwag: This general needs new tactics
Niranjan Rajadhyaksha -
Wednesday, May 14, 2008 3:13 PM
Some generals are said to make a fatal mistake in battle. The memories of their last encounter overwhelm them. They fight the new battle using the tactics of the old one. And end up on the losing side. Think of Vietnam: World War 2 did not prepare the American military for Vietnam.
And think of Virendra Sehwag. He seemed to have fallen into the same strategic trap when the Delhi Dare Devils faced the Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens on Tuesday night. Shoaib Akhtar blew away the top of the visiting team’s batting line up in three scorching overs. The Delhi team never recovered.
Why were the Delhi batsmen throwing their bats at the 150 mph deliveries coming their way? Why didn’t they block against Shoaib and go after the rest?
I think Sehwag was fighting an old battle. That encounter was when India played Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. Pakistan scored 273 in their innings, not a bad score. India eventually won comfortably. That was largely because of a brilliant 98 off 75 deliveries scored by Sachin Tendulkar.
Sehwag opened the innings with Tendulkar that day. There was a clear plan: do not allow Shoaib Akhtar to settle down. Sachin hoisted him for a six over third man in the very first over. A brutal assault followed. The two openers put up 53 runs off the first 34 balls. Shoaib was hit out of the attack. Pakistan never recovered.
Sehwag seemed to have got it into his head that the same strategy would work in Eden Gardens this week. It was clear the Delhi batsmen were trying to hit Shoaib out of the attack. They did not succeed. Perhaps it’s because cricketers with less talent were facing Shoaib that day.
My guess is that after what happened to the Delhi batting line-up, other teams will stay away from assault tactics and try to see off Shoaib with minimum damage to their scorecards.