The Indian vice-captain says that anyone can make it to the squad if they can prove their worth in the team.
BANGALORE: Just like his batting, even Virender Sehwag’s speech is uninhibited.
So when a journalist asked him what he thought of John Wright’s recent views about the zonal selection policy, he said: “India is a big country and if you have five selectors from different zones, they have to tell the others about the players from their zone. It’s only after that they all decide whether the individual deserves to play for India. It is not possible for any player to get into the team without performing. Everything happens in the eye of the media and it is not possible to fool people. I have never attented a selection meeting but whatever views Wright had were his own. In his five years as coach, he attended many selection meetings.”
Sehwag also looked at the upcoming series against Sri Lanka and South Africa as a chance for the India to set the record right in Sri Lanka - where the team hasn’t won in 14 years. “We know the conditions there and the kind of pitches suit us well. Sri Lanka’s batsmen look like they are in good form but they have been playing against just South Africa — we are a different opposition.”
Since Greg Chappell took over as coach, the Indians have started to approach pratice sessions with a particular goal in mind. In his first camp, he had them playing as if it was in the slog overs of a match. During the tour of Pakistan too, the team tried to simulate match conditions during practice before the Peshawar ODI.
So does that mean the end of net sessions as we know them?
“Not really but playing as if I was playing in a match helps me concentrate better. In a normal net session, I’d know that if I get out, I can continue batting. But here, I have just one chance,” said Sehwag. “However, if you wish to have a nets sessions after that you are free to do that as well.”
In the recent past, Sehwag has been the only constant for India at the top of the order. The constant shuffling at the top of the order could unsettle many batsmen but not Sehwag. “It doesn’t really make a big difference to me but many changes have happened because Sachin (Tendulkar) was injured. When he is there, he is normally my opening partner. All the experiments with the batting order were done to give everyone an opportunity to bat in different positions. But the changes are not important, winning is and that’s what we have been doing.”
With Sourav Ganguly back in the news after a report suggested he will make the list of 30 probables for the Champions Trophy, Sehwag said: “Anyone can make it to the squad if they can prove their worth to the team.”
