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Mar312008
Of Virendra Sehwag’s 300
The audience enjoyed it. Media went into a frenzy. Record books were re-written. Everyone won. Except the game. I am talking about Virendra Sehwag’s triple-ton. In course of reaching that magical number, he made umpteen number of records and everyone was mesmerized with this performance. I have a slightly different view to offer.
The pitch was as flat as a table-tennis table and anyone who could hold a bat would be able to score runs. A score of 300 plus is just another number and we should not let the bigger picture out of sight.
What Virendra Sehwag did was commendable and not a lot of people have been able to achieve it. He should be amply rewarded for the same. But did it contribute to India winning the match? Did it even help us get close to the win? People might argue that he saved us from a defeat. But again do they really think that if he did not bat, we would have been dismissed for 200 twice and we would then loose by an innings?
Wondering if we can make a pitch that gives a 90 degrees turn to bowlers, we can have all bowling records for us. Then lets make a ground that is as small as the 30 yard circle. We can then have records for maximum number of sixes, fastest 10, 30, 50, 100 etc. Is it awards and records that we chase? Or is it the game that has to be bigger than everything else? Obviously, history does not remember conditions in which records were made. Only the number stands. And numbers are all that matters.
Can we have someone take cognizance of this and take control of pitches and other things affecting cricket before its too late?
Disclaimer: I am die-hard cricket fan and ardent supporter of Indian Cricket.
The views expressed in this post are those of the writer and are not necessarily endorsed by Mutiny.in
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Nagashankar
001
7:26 pm
yeah agreed it was a flat pitch, yeah agreed it wasn;t great as far as a test match is concerned but nothing to take away from shewag.. only because of his blistering 319 did we even think of some result on the 5th Day.. but unfortunately we didn;t have enough lead to put SA under pressure.
we wouldn;t hv lost the match if shewag wouldn;t hv scored, but atleast the match wouldn’t hv been like the one we have seen.
how many people have scored so many runs on flat pitch ?
as far as ur statement which says “anyone who could hold a bat would be able to score runs” isn;t so convincing
Hemant
002
7:57 pm
If Rahul and other players had maintained even half the strike rate that Sehwag did and scored some more runs , India definately had chance at winning the match
yugan
003
9:51 pm
But did it contribute to India winning the match?
- Absolutely. Think again. He did more than his part, he did not waste valueble time in scoring the triple.
Did it even help us get close to the win?
- No doubt. See above.
Hemant
004
10:39 am
Its bowlers who win the test match not the batsmen because you always need to take 20 wickets for that.. and you need time and runs to back you up for that so Sehwag with with his blisttering 300 gave India a real good chance at that.. only if the other batsmen and bowlers had contributed in similar manner.. .. so if India were to win this match it would never had been possible without Sehwag’s 300.. so your argument is completly baseless that Sehwag’s innings didn’t help us get close to the win.. its only becuase of him that we were thinking of winning the match after day 3
Rishabh
005
9:40 pm
Sehwag scored his triple century in less than 50 overs. And he scored a run a ball which I think got India closest to a victory if possible. Why not put the bame on Dravid or say Jaffer who played at a strike rate of under 50 or say a Tendulkar who got out for a duck. Or even the Indian bowlers who let the south africans score 500 in the first place.
Sehwag should be the last person under scrutiny according to me.
We screwed up in a lot of areas but sehwags triple ton was surely not one of the areas.
1conoclast
006
5:36 pm
Rishabh,
With you on this totally! Sehwag should be the last person under scrutiny!
Subodh Varma
007
9:31 pm
There are people who are always trying to belittle great achievements. They are perhaps those who have never achieved anything worthwhile in their own lives. My dear S4ur4bh (Saurabh?), other great batsmen on both the sides (Tendulkar, Dravid, kallis, De Villiers) played on the same dead wicket but did anyone score even a double century? Dravid’s painstaking century was hardly worth mentioning.Then, hundreds of great batsmen must have played on hundreds of dead wickets against a much weaker bowling attack but had anyone, besides Bradman and Lara, scored a triple to twice? Has anyone ever, even on a dead pitch, scored 252 runs in a single day? Highest score that the great Gavskar ever reached was 236 and that too on the same dead Chennai pitch. And which team has managed to defeat a team that has scored over five hundred runs in the first innings?
So S4ur4bh, do not hesitate to give credit where it is due. It doesn’t cost you anything.
SUBODH VARMA
Saurabh Garg
008
9:48 am
Subodh .. thanks for making the most convincing case of all the comments posted.
I have just one line in my defense. If a batsman plays 50 matches and hits a 300 and less than 30 in all other matches, is he a great batsman?
Personally no. I rather have a batsman that can hit 50 in every match.