Viru explodes for five-star India

Push, pull, reverse sweep, backfoot execution, textbook drive, straight stunner, incredible loft – you demand and he supplies.

Indeed, Virender Sehwag gave rationalists enough proof of his paranormal capacity to make good men do, well, equally paranormal things: Like making the maestro happy to be his support staff; like giving the boyish Stuart little option but to surrender his surname to his Broad bat; like wiping out Pietersen’s prudent 111 not just from public memory but also from the beleaguered English skipper’s own mind; like making England wonder – now what; and like, making the umpire cut his life and century short to an outrageously erroneous decision.

Celebrating on the back of such a powerful blast from Sehwag, Team India won its fifth consecutive ODI against England, this time under the lights, despite the dew and overcoming skipper Dhoni’s surprising decision to chase.

The showstopper was the four-six-four-four hour class boundary display by Sehwag which had England’s Swann song in acute distress as England’s Cuttack tormentor reached his 50 in just 41 balls and India raced to a 100 in the 14th over.

Sehwag, who rarely moves a foot in the crease and continues to do so despite paying the price for it in more ways than one, wrote a script audacious enough to merit a pardon for making Team India virtually redundant. He made his intentions clear from the very first over in which he shifted, adjusted and looked around before sending Harmison’s fourth delivery to a clean boundary on the square. Thereafter, he tore into Stuart, ripped apart Harmison and worked around Flintoff to finally put him too in the beaten bowlers’ obscenely expanding gallery.

As Pietersen scratched his head in a mixture of desperation and grudging wonderment, Sehwag mounted his own personal gallery of shots befitting a high-profile auction. Cuttack applauded, England was nonplussed and skipper Dhoni got busy rehearsing his post-match speech on a 5-0, historical victory.

Pietersen, who earlier in the day made a prudent and unbeaten 111 to give England a fighting figure of 270, lost the mood to celebrate his crossing 3000 runs and becoming the fifth fastest batsman to do so, courtesy an uncontrollable Sehwag.

Nothing really seemed to matter to the crowd though. When Tendulkar departed after an in-built 50 (six fours but no six) in the 19th over, the crowd – happy to be Sehwag – gave the maestro a standing ovation.

Nevertheless, it was stranger than fiction that most of the initial boundaries sent home by Tendulkar resembled miscued shots on balls which sometimes kept low and sometimes almost pierced through his defence, like the one on which Broad had started celebrating. Seems Dhoni’s lady was guarding the maestro too, till of course he suddenly swung wildly – and inaccurately – to give Harmison’s length delivery an opportunity to upset his usually well-guarded furniture.

India then were 136 in 19 overs and England were already wondering how they would deal with Indian explosives at both ends – Sehwag and new man in Yuvraj Singh. For once, Yuvraj obliged them with a short and listless stint. His was a soft dismissal by Bopara who caught an attempted on-drive without much effort.

And then evil triumphed over good. Sehwag, who was on fire at 91 with 15 fours and a six off 77 balls, was given out leg before wicket to Stuart on what can be tagged as the match’s most blatant lie – the ball would have missed the stumps by inches, but the umpire did not see so and Hawk Eye got its first opportunity to question and berate.

Perhaps, that was the only way Sehwag could have been downed, perhaps brilliance is vulnerable to wrongfulness. But the epitaph said, Sehwag had done his job and had ensnared eternity.

Post Sehwag, normality returned to the middle and there was an expected lull, though after the storm this time, with India losing two of its best bats in a matter of minutes, making skipper Dhoni to arrange for an impromptu workout (a solid 50) in the middle with Suresh Raina (an unbeaten 54).

Though the explosions stopped much to England’s relief, the singles, twos and as and when boundaries, (Raina’s gentle straight lofts were lovely), ensured that the run rate did not sag despite losing some weight and India touched 250 for 4 with in the 40th over, knocking the doors of victory yet again, despite Dhoni’s ouster.

Rohit Sharma did the final formalities with a four off Bopara in the 44th over and returned with an Indian 273, Raina, stumps and a 5-0 whitewash.

With this fifth consecutive win in a series, India created history and England looked like history. The dejection in the rival camp was granted. After all, it was not a bad first innings by them, giving a contesting score of 270 to the Indians. Blame it on the Dhoni season in which India can do no wrong.

Published on November 27, 2008