Virender Sehwag's blockbuster opening against Bangladesh

Physics and other such established truths hold little meaning when Sehwag walks in to bat. On Saturday, he helped Bangladesh bowlers unlearn a few scientific principles they might have studied in school. His knock of 175 provided the blockbuster opening the tournament needed. It also helped India throw the monkey (remember 2007?) off their backs.

Virender Sehwag tends to disprove Sir Isaac Newton’s theory, at least with his cricket. His batting often establishes that in some cases, even a small spherical particle can attract a long vertical particle as powerfully as “every massive particle in the universe attracts every other massive particle.” Sehwag’s cricket, rather batting, is out of this universe.

On Saturday, the round ball was attracted to his vertical willow and was asking to be whacked. It was whack, whack, whack as the Bangladesh bowlers were merely obliging the ball’s wish. They could not stop even a semi-fit India opener who went berserk at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium here on Saturday. India could not have hoped for a better start to their World Cup campaign. The much talked about revenge against Bangladesh was extracted.

Sehwag had openly stated that he coveted a 200-run score in the ODIs. On Saturday, he came close to fulfilling that wish. But it was not to be as he fell attempting a wild slash off Shakib Al Hasan in the 48th over. But by then, the Bangladesh’s hopes of repeating the 2007 upset were banished. The home team bowlers looked to be merely going through the motion as India piled on a massive total of 370 for 4. But for his dismissal, India would have crossed the 400 mark.

But till that point, the cricket was of different class with Sehwag displaying his hitherto unseen split personality. He would hit casually and the ball would race away to the fence, the smile on his face camouflaging the belligerence in his batting. It was an innings full of control, poise and character. The mundane did not find place in his batting as he smashed 14 fours and five sixes, the standout shot being a straight six off Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan. The only blemish in the knock was an error in judgement that led to the dismissal of Sachin Tendulkar.

Sehwag began with a four off Shafiul Islam off the very first ball of the Indian innings setting the tone for the match and India did not look back since. From that point, Sehwag played every ball like the first ball as his highest ODI score of 175 came off just 140 balls at a strike rate of 125.

The innings gave India the start they had hoped for in the World Cup. It would be difficult to stop them as they carved out a comfortable win with an all-round display against the home team. From the Indian point of view, one hopes Sehwag too goes unstoppable, his batting continuing to defy the universal gravitational theory.