South Africa's batting greats, Graeme Pollock and Kepler Wessels urge Virender Sehwag to pay more respect to the conditions
South Africa's batting greats, Graeme Pollock and Kepler Wessels urge Virender Sehwag to pay more respect to the conditions
Seven Boxing Days ago, Virender Sehwag played one of his finest knocks when he smashed 195 inside two-and-a-half sessions at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
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| Virender Sehwag walks back to the pavilion after being dismissed in Kingsmead, Durban, yesterday.
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At a point yesterday on Day One of the second Test against South Africa, there was a temptation among Indians to crave for a similar special.
In the last ball of the sixth over, he nearly holed out to third-man, and was lucky not to be caught in the slip cordon in the eighth over. Sure, even a scratchy Sehwag is effective, as India raced along to 38-0 in seven overs. But he rarely displayed the fluency he did at MCG 2003, Multan 2004, Lahore 2006, Chennai 2008 and Mumbai 2009.
Former SA captain turned commentator Kepler Wessels reckoned Sehwag needs to respect conditions: "He always does that (plays the way he wants). No coach or captain can ask him to change his game, that is a given. We all respect his game. He is the greatest entertainer in the modern-day game. But, when conditions are as different, you have to adapt.u00a0
"Sehwag must respect conditions more. On such a spiteful surface, you need to put your head down a little. But again, that's his game and will always be that," said Wessels. Batting great Graeme Pollock came to watch Sehwag yesterday, but left Kingsmead early thanks to the Indian opener's dismissal - caught by Jacques Kallis at second slip off Dale Steyn for 25. Pollock said: "He is capable of winning matches off his bat, but someone should tell him that even the greatest of batsmen must stay at the crease to get runs. I hope coach Gary Kirsten is driving home that point. I am not saying he threw away his wicket today, but he does that at times."
Meanwhile, almost everything went in South Africa's favour yesterday. Mahendra Singh Dhoni called wrong at the toss for the 12th out of 13 times this calendar year. The sun refused to brace this beautiful coastal town for even a minute. The grey clouds never disappeared.
Indians not badIt felt like the Indians, who were aplenty at Kingsmead, came here from England. For it was all English, from the overcast weather, the prodigious swing in the offing, to the slow outfield. Wessels reckoned India's batsmen deserve credit despite losing six wickets: "It wasn't an easy surface to bat on. Probably, some of the toughest batting conditions I have seen in a while.
In fact, the ball didn't do so much at Centurion and India got bundled out for 136. Here, they were a lot better. There was so much swing both in the air and off the surface, but they gutted it out. They deserve some credit for that," Wessels told MiD DAY.
"Having said that, some of the batsmen are still reluctant to play forward, as they get caught up on the crease too much. That is a big weakness in India's batting. They need to sort it out quickly. That led to their downfall, same as the first Test," he added.
Wessels felt the South African bowlers were fortunate to get first use of the surface: "It was a big toss to win.
The conditions were tailor-made for swing bowling. A total of 250 could put India in a good position, especially if the weather remains the same. There is lot of bounce on this surface, a little bit of turn towards the end of the match. Harbhajan Singh could prove a handful if he gathers good control," said Wessels.
(With inputs from Debasish Datta)
