Virender Sehwag’s fighting but fluent 151 in the fourth innings was his first fourth-innings century in his international career.
‘Gutsy’ and ‘tough’ are not words typically used to describe Virender Sehwag innings. A languid batter who seemed to play all his strokes with a sense of disdain for the bowler, Sehwag made a terrific career out of dominating bowlers on batting-friendly wickets and scoring his runs at a canter. Often maligned as a flat-track bully, Sehwag’s 151 at Adelaide in 2008, in a match-saving knock, went to show that a class batter remains a class batter in any situation.
Virender Sehwag celebrates his century in Adelaide with Sachin Tendulkar.(AFP)
Sehwag had already scored a fluent 63 opening the batting in the first innings at the Adelaide Oval, as India tried to carry forward the momentum from the Perth Test and tie the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a win in the fourth and final Test. Sachin Tendulkar’s 153 and a late rearguard effort from Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble saw India put on a strong 526, and put them in position to go for the win.
The wind was taken out of their sails by three Aussie centurions, as Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, and Michael Clarke batted India out of the game. A win was off the cards for India now, but Australia were capable of causing a defeat, especially as the ball started to misbehave late in the Test.
It was in these difficult conditions that Virender Sehwag came out to open in the fourth innings. He had never scored a fourth innings century in his career before this point, and with Brett Lee making the ball dance, Sehwag was somewhat fortunate not to find a delivery that had his name on it.
A positive result for India’s batting greats
After surviving a few scares and a few blows on a two-bounce kind of wicket in Adelaide, Sehwag started to find his feet against Andrew Symonds, with a couple of quick boundaries helping to break the shackles. He started to find success against the pacers as well, driving and slashing in his typical fashion to get his innings going.
Soon enough, having seen out that tough initial spell, Sehwag started attacking. In particular he went after Brad Hogg, chasing the left-handed leggie out of the attack with a six and a couple of cracking drives.
However, wickets started falling around him, but Sehwag didn’t let up the pressure he was putting on the Aussies. Late in the match, with India heading towards a solid draw if they didn’t do anything silly, Sehwag continued to play his shots with the awareness that every run would matter.
Sehwag’s 151 proved to be enough, as his fighting but fluent knock ensured India had enough runs behind them despite the wickets to stay safely out of harm’s way. India went back home with a fighting and positive couple of Tests in Perth and Adelaide, having bounced back well from that controversial and memorable series down under in 2008.
