By Gaurang - 2 April, 2003
April 3 2003

The person Virender Sehwag most resembles in his overall approach to the game, not just batting, is his captain, Sourav Ganguly. Can he be as effective a captain? Cricket fans and TV commentators alike can't get over the uncanny resemblance between Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag as batsmen. The, "if you can do it, I can do it better", starts they gave India throughout the 2003 World Cup, except in the final, was a major reason for India's success in the tournament.

However the person Virender Sehwag most resembles in his overall approach to the game, not just batting, is his Captain, Sourav Ganguly. Though there are many superficial differences between them, they are similar at the core. While Sehwag is rustic and comes from a humble farming and small business background, comfortable in Hindi, the suave Ganguly speaks polished English probably better than many an England Captain, and his Bengali blue-blood upper class background of privilege stirs the antipathies of some outsiders who like their Indians meek, mellow and subservient.

This common trait has irked many. Ganguly has been the major target of this ire so far. The list is long: first there was Ian Chappell, who couldn't get over Ganguly's "attitude" problem, never mind that "Chappelli" was the forefather of the "Ugly Australian" era. He was joined in his dislike by Steve Waugh, who has carried "Ugly Australianism" to new heights or depths as you may see it. Along the way, English scribes, including the rather unfortunately named Scyld "Parasite" Berry, dubbed him "Lord Snooty". Then there were the "Indian" ex-cricketers such as the buffoonish Bishen Bedi and the sniveling Sanjay Manjrekar who also were sharply critical of the in-your-face style of India's Captain. The game's officials and administrators too seemed to be targeting the Indian captain, from the selectively itchy index finger of "Ashocka" DeSilva to l'affaire Dennes who especially targeted Virender Sehwag for excessive appealing, while ignoring the voluminous brayings of Shaun Pollock. Could it be that the powers that be were prescient in their assessment and wanted to nip Sehwag in the bud?

Meanwhile media stories of Ganguly's haughty manners, his princely ways, his elitism were printed and repeated ad nauseam, never mind the clear TV evidence to the contrary as seen in his sharing a conversation and some fruit with the dejected Ashish Nehra on the sidelines after the youngster had just been dropped by the selectors, or his shirt-off exultation in the achievement of "his" boys Kaif and Yuvraj, after the Natwest finals.

Ganguly has actually been one of the least aloof, most approachable, most supportive especially in public (where it counts most), most merit conscious, least factional, least elitist, least haughty, and most genuinely admired and respected Captains of an Indian cricket team ever. It is in this light that Virender Sehwag's elevation to vice-captaincy should be assessed.

The Vice Captaincy can have several purposes. It can be used to genuinely share burdens of leadership, it can be used to groom a successor, or it can be used as a version of what the Japanese call the "Window Seat", a hollow honor to a long and loyal employee, who otherwise is not central to the operation of a company.

Rahul Dravid, the regular Vice Captain clearly falls into the first category. There has never been a greater team-man, acting unobtrusively like the wind beneath the team's wings, than "The Wall". If VVS, Kumble or another senior, assuming they were available, were given the job the selectors would have clearly been going the "Window Seat" route. It is refreshing that the selectors are thinking long term and have given the job to the one cricketer who is most cut out in his approach, his temperament, and attitude to be the eventual successor to Ganguly, Virender Sehwag. Clearly when Dravid returns, after a well deserved break and honeymoon, he will continue as "VC" as long as he chooses to.

So what are the attributes that make Sehwag ideal for eventual Captaincy? Top among them must be his temperament. Always the BIG GAME performer, he somehow seems to thrive on adversity. His test match debut 100 scored under presssure and in the company of his batting idol, Tendulkar, was just the appetizer to a long series of knocks that have turned the game for India in both Tests and ODIs. Who can forget his blitzkreig with Ganguly in the NatWest Final, where the two added a Century opening stand? He repeated the dose in even more massive quantity when along with his captain, he annihilated England's bowling in the ICC Knock Out Tournament. He followed this up with a blistering 59 off 58 balls and 3 for 25 with his under rated off-spin to spin South Africa right out of the ICC Champions Trophy knock-out tournament as well. These deeds were followed by his amazing century at Mumbai where he single handedly batted the Windies out of the first test match then nearly chased down 300 again in the company of his captain, with such consumate ease that the Windies sought the saftey of the dressing room, claiming to have seen some "vanishing" water bottles tossed on the field. He followed this up with two centuries on the "Wonder-bra" wickets of New Zealand where no other batsman from either side reached three figures. His gutsy innings in the World Cup final that gave India a chance was ended by a superlative piece of fielding to run him out, which on another day would have only resulted in a few hands to the hips or head, and continuation of his knock.

Some may point out with justification that Sachin Tendulkar has done similar things, and for a much longer period of time, but he did not turn out to be such a great captain. What is different about Sehwag? For one, he is not averse to stating what he wants to achieve and then going all out to achieve it. Sure it puts extra pressure on himself, and even his teammates, but he probably feels that he does better with pressure and expects his teammates to do so too. And based on the evidence so far, who can argue with that. Clearly a Captain, especially an Indian Captain, must be someone who thrives on pressure as there is no job with as much pressure in sport. Secondly he is not bothered with, consciously or unconsciously, preserving an image as a paragon of virtue on the cricket field.

Tendulkar with his reticence to oppose verbally the "mental disintegration" of his opponent could never fully get his team behind him, no matter how much he led from the front. Tendulkar's squeaky clean image did not prevent the despicable Dennes from trying to taint him with ball tampering, or an Australian umpire declaring him lbw after being hit on the body. Sehwag has no such qualms. He will give back as much as he gets, be it opponents such as Lee of whom he said "mein usko faad doonga" and actually did it in the final, or officials like Shepherd of whom he once said "kuch bhi bakta rehta hain" when he tried to tell Sehwag not to appeal so vehemently. In another instance after he was "spoken to" by the umpire for appealing, he casually flicked off the bails when a fielder returned the ball to him, letting the umpire pick up the bails and arrange them back on top of the stumps. This incident for me sums up his "attitude."

As for his cricketing acumen in terms of field placing, bowling changes, etc, he seems to have a natural knack for reading the game. His superb bowling both in Sri Lanka and South Africa shows that he can read and adjust his own bowling to the particular batsman, the field placings, and the pitch conditions, the match situation. The rest of the tactical acumen required of a Captain can be acquired via apprenticeship, input from the think-tank, and on the job learning. More than the technical stuff what is needed for a successful captain is the correct attitude, which Sehwag clearly has.

One area that is a question mark is his ability in man-management. Ganguly is an absolute genius at this aspect. Ganguly makes very politic statements, while forcefully getting his view point heard. He is the master of getting things he wants said, said, while making nice sounding pronouncements. He is also able to bind the team into a single unit. This is one aspect where Sehwag's abilities are largely unknown as yet. Of course his limited English skill, is not a big handicap as some may imagine. A few well said words, to the foreign press and more expansive comments to the Indian press, may finally ensure that the Indian press is in a position to have others depend on it and look to it for stories and leads, instead of the usual case.

What is not known and what is hard to know is how he will handle the interpersonal conflicts and egos that will inevitably crop up. Looking at what clues we have, his garrulous nature, as evidenced by his horsing around with Parthiv Patel, the baby of the team, one second, and the next, sharing a laugh with the Captain bodes well. In any case, such abilities or lack thereof usually only come to light after the die is cast. But the selectors and Ganguly seem to trust he is the man for the job, so he must be given the benefit of the doubt.

I can envision the current Tridev of Ganguly, Dravid and Sachin, if all goes according to plan, morphing into a new leadership triumvirate of Sehwag, Kaif and Yuvraj in roughly the same roles, to carry on leading Indian cricket for a long time to come. For now, it's time for the lad from Najafgad to add the tag of "Sort-of" Ganguly to the old one of Sachin "Twin-dulkar".