Sehwag proves a point, three times over

Chennai: When we first saw Virender Sehwag, he was a teenager, with curly hair and a very innocent outlook of the world. Things have changed. The curls have vanished, Sehwag has grown taller, though not much, has picked up weight, some say too much, and has a much more cynical expression on his face.

One thing has not changed though – he still swings the bat like a bludgeon.

Time teaches people to be wiser, more careful, and even to be a bit afraid. Sehwag has learnt all that, and adapted whatever suited him. What he cannot learn is to be circumspect as a batsman.

This has resulted in a lot of criticism, especially last year, when there was a definite chance that he would be out of the team for a long time. His fitness was being questioned, and not without reason, since he seemed to have lost whatever little agility he had. With the bat too, his careless abandon had transformed into callousness, with a touch of defiance.

That is the worst combination when it comes to playing cricket in India, and people get impatient. The axe had to come, and did.

But even the players agree that a stint out of the team can be great for them, since a lot of distractions and misconceptions are taken care of. They suddenly realise that they, outside of the team, are mortals like all else, so the place in the team has to be cherished and preserved. The only way to do that is perform. Virender Sehwag has done that.