Two moments stood out on the second day of the third Test at the Brabourne Stadium yesterday. From 182, Virender Sehwag jumped to 200 with four fours and a two in one over off Nuwan Kulasekara.
Two moments stood out on the second day of the third Test at the Brabourne Stadium yesterday. From 182, Virender Sehwag jumped to 200 with four fours and a two in one over off Nuwan Kulasekara.
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Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara reacts as Virender Sehwag fires on all cylinders during Day Two of the third Test at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai yesterday. pic/atul kamble |
Then, Muttiah Muralitharan had a six-three leg-side defensive field when the Indian opener was on 246.
Sehwag, nonchalantly, reverse swept the off-spinner's full-length ball through the slips to reach 250.
For the Sri Lankan bowlers, it was a classic case of not knowing where to bowl and then not knowing where to look.
The Indian opener hit an unbeaten 284 off 239 balls as the home team scored at an unheard of run-rate of 5.60 to reach 443 for one in 79 overs.
"There are batsmen in world cricket who get runs, but no one can do what he can do. He is intimidating," said commentator Russel Arnold, who played against Sehwag quite often during his 44 Tests and 180 ODIs for Sri Lanka from 1997 to 2007.
"You are always under pressure when bowling to Sehwag. Look at the rate he's got his runs at. Your mind can go blank," Arnold said, while pointing to Sehwag's slaughter of his former teammates in the middle yesterday.
"It is not that the Sri Lankan bowlers are bad. They are all successful bowlers. It was not as if they bowled a bad line and length here, but Sehwag hit the good balls too. (Kumar) Sangakkara and his bowlers were left clueless. They are looking like a club side," said Arnold.
It was Sehwag's third hundred (which includes two double hundreds) against Lanka in the last five Tests. His double hundred in the last series at Galle was equally mesmerising. "This innings is better than Galle for the rate at which he has scored," said Arnold. The pressure just piles on when you look at the names who are following him in the batting line-up Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and MS Dhoni.u00a0
"In other Indian batsmen you can sense that they have reputations, expectations to defend. Sehwag is completely different," a Lankan support staff member said.
