The Sehwag shadow that refuses to go away

After a scintillating ton on debut in the first Test, Prithvi Shaw lived up to his 'prodigy' label with subsequent performances at Hyderabad that duly earned him a ‘Man of the Series’ against a beleaguered Windies side. The following praise had to be effusive. And effusive it was. Never the one to mince words, team India coach Ravi Shastri drew parallels with Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara as well as Virender Sehwag. While the first two comparisons can be discounted as slightly premature, Shastri can be forgiven for seeing Sehwag in those audacious shots that Shaw enthralled the motley crowd with at Rajkot and Hyderabad. Even if anyone didn't watch him play, those strike rates are a definite reminder of a man who holds, among many others, the record of scoring the fastest triple hundred in Tests.

In a world far far away from Hyderabad but in a city not so far away, Sehwag's once partner-in-crime Gautam Gambhir was rolling back the years with a 69 ball century in the Vijay Hazare Trophy against Haryana to celebrate his 37th birthday. The innings came only a few days after another blistering knock of 151. Despite a disastrous move to Delhi Daredevils in 2018, Gautam Gambhir still looks like a player who can walk into any Test side. The passion is there. The fitness has never come under scrutiny. The commitment to whichever team he plays for is unquestionable. All of that makes one wonder how did a player as precious as Gambhir fall through the gaps? 

This is where, in my humble opinion, Sehwag is to be blamed. Sehwag changed the game and spoiled us. The shadow of Sehwag on Indian cricket is much bigger than anyone would have imagined at the beginning of the Delhi boy's career.

Virender Sehwag was a genius. A lot many have had more staggering numbers than him but if a player is measured on the basis of the impact he had on the game and on his era, Sehwag wouldn't find much competition from his peers. The explosive nature of his batting at the top, especially in Tests, was a game-changer for Indian cricket and his promotion to the top spot played a major part in India's success in the first decade of the century.

However, the thing with geniuses is that they're rare. They don't come out of factories. It's difficult to replicate freaks of nature like Sehwag. And that's where Indian cricket erred. 

When Virender Sehwag was dropped for good by the selectors in 2013, his place in the side was taken by Shikhar Dhawan. And as if straight out of some script, Dhawan made his debut in the same way Sehwag did, demolishing Aussies with a stunning century, albeit at home. Talk about a like for like change.

Dhawan's swagger and the strike rate at which he accumulated runs in both formats not only made everyone sit up and notice but also assured the selectors that they don't need to look beyond him for Sehwag's replacement. He was the natural successor of Sehwag. The next big destroyer of bowling attacks. 

However, post that big hundred on debut, Dhawan came up with hardly anything notable in his next twelve Tests, ten of which came in conditions outside the sub-continent. There was a 98 in Wellington, 115 in Auckland and another 81 in Brisbane but that's about it. 

But having seen a tinge of Sehwag in Dhawan’s batting, there was no going back to a batsman who was not in Sehwag mould for the selectors. We had just grown used to a dasher at the top who would take down bowling attacks on his own. Despite not being in that mould, Murali Vijay proved irreplaceable in the XI by churning out quality scores on the same pitches on which Dhawan struggled. The need for speed, though, which Sehwag had got us addicted to, made the selectors continue to stick with Dhawan. Despite his consistency, Vijay always looked just one slip away from getting axed, something that eventually happened post the English tour debacle. His replacement in the team is now a man who promises to do Vijay's job at a faster clip.

In the end, much to the frustration of the selectors and the management, Dhawan proved to be only half the Sehwag he had promised to be. He was pretty much a Sehwag like basher on subcontinent pitches but there was never a Melbourne 195 or Bloemfontein 105 or Adelaide 151 going to come from his bat. To be fair to Dhawan though, Sehwag's prime coincided with the easing up of Indo-Pak relationship, resulting in him enjoying a bit more of subcontinent conditions than Dhawan did. Even then, Sehwag was India's best bet on any kind of pitches till he was discarded after a string of poor scores.

Second to him was Gautam Gambhir, whose career proved to be a collateral damage in India's obsession with a 'Sehwag type' at the top. At 31, Gambhir averaged 45 from his 54 Tests and little would he have known that only 4 more Tests would get added to that number. Selectors persisting with Dhawan despite failures and an irreplaceable Vijay meant Gambhir found it impossible to break into the XI. Even when he did get chances, he didn't help his cause by fluffing them. But a fair assessment should keep in mind that he turned out in India colours only 4 times in the next 6 years. Not only Gambhir but even Abhinav Mukund failed to warrant the selector’s attention for too long, often ending tours as the third choice opener who never played as lifelines kept getting thrown at Dhawan. In his last knock for India till date, he scored an impressive 81 before drifting away without notice.

With Dhawan finally finding the end of a long rope, the question of what could have happened had India given so many chances to Gambhir is one that can be relegated to the realm of futility. But what demands cautious handling in the coming times is the career of a young Shaw. Despite the obvious talent, Shaw needs to cement his place in the side with performances home and away. He should not be hurried into becoming the next Sehwag. Nor should he try to be the next Sehwag. If conditions demand him to buckle down and play the waiting game, he should. If conditions allow him to put on exhibit his entire range of shots, he should. But he needs to obliterate the memory of Virender Sehwag. And so should Team India, who need to find an able opener who can produce results irrespective of conditions, and not another Viru. Otherwise, the label of ‘next Sehwag’ Shaw would soon find out, is heavier to bear than the labels of ‘next Sachin’ or ‘next Lara’.