Can Virender Sehwag make a comeback? Seems the odds are stacked against him
By fannekhan
@fannekhan (783)
India
April 5, 2013 2:09am CST
Two years ago he was asked at an ESPN awards function, where he was a winner, whether he loved to open. He said that he would like to bat at No.4 in tests. But when he was reminded that no.4 is no hurry to leave, he said he will wait. Does he have time in his favor? I don't think so.
With the success of Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan and a determined Gambhir aiming to come back it will not be easy but Virender may be able to fit in at no 5, after SRT departs. No.5 is a spot he can make his own provided he works on his fitness. He can come in after Pujara and Kohli and before Dhoni who is apt at no.6.
SRT may not be on that plane to South Africa later this year, and therein lies Viru's chance. In the meanwhile he has to focus on his fitness and the longer format. The IPL will be a distraction, no doubt about that. Tough decisions ahead of Sehwag but for the sake of Indian cricket let us hope he plays a few seasons more of test cricket.
He is a match winner that India would not want to lose. What do you say?
1 person likes this
5 responses
@grvdubey11 (1879)
• India
5 Apr 13
Viru has been a hand eye coordination player.He hardly played a gem of an innings on a testing pitch.He was a useful opener in India as here there is no swing or seam movement at the start ,in fact new ball is best for scoring fast runs.During the days when he was young and fit ,he was useful as an opener overseas too.As his quick fire 30-40 runs gave India a good start perfect platform for strong middle order.But since SA tour two years back, he has been failing in every test series whether home or away.Only his celebrity status kept him in the team.Now that he is gone ,and rightly so ,he should consider retirement.I mean he did well for India alright ,but lets get realistic.He is a poor fielder now, dropped so many catches at slip and he has been a sitting duck as an opener also he left bowling too now for whatever reasons.Apart from Shikhar Dhawan ,Vijay,Mukund and Gambhir ,India has talented young batsman waiting for chance like Unmukt Chand and Jiwanjot Singh.I dont think he deserves a place in middle order too,i mean he is 35 already,then you have so many contenders for that middle order position which will be emptied after retirement of Sachin.There is Manoj Tiwary,Raina, Rahane,Rohit Sharma and many others who are younger and fitter than Sehwag.If Rahul and VVS are led into forced retirement,just because of age and poor form over couple of series then same rules should be applied on Sehwag too.
2 people like this
@fannekhan (783)
• India
5 Apr 13
He is not getting younger, nothing can be done about that. He can definitely work on his fitness. He is a sharp slip fielder with amazing reflexes. His endurance levels are legendary, otherwise, how do you explain his two triple centuries and a ODI double hundred? He is a proven match winner and we also remember that he made his debut on South African wickets and has a century on debut. His match winning knocks have come when others were busy trying to save their wickets by batting carefully. It is well known that if he stays on for some measure of time he will change the course of the game, that is how dangerous he can be as a marauding plunderer of quick runs.
He has a few seasons left in him and for the sake of Indian cricket, let us hope he finds his form and fitness. Both are within his grasp.
He is an impact player and is a modern day great player, second to none.
1 person likes this
@grvdubey11 (1879)
• India
5 Apr 13
With all due respect,as far as i know,he has not hit an overseas century since 2008.Rahul and VVS are too are match winner like Sehwag,but they were forced into retirement after failures in couple of series.While Sehwag has failed in almost every series after India's tour of SA two years ago.Why different rules for different players.Sehwag was complete failure in India's tour of England, we all remember the king pair in third test.Then he failed in all three tests against weak team like WI when they toured India.Then he failed in Australia ,followed by poor performances in home series against NZ and England.In-fact the 100 he scored against England in Ahmadabad came almost after two years.These are all facts i didnt make them up.Look may be he was a match winner in the past but how many chances will he get considering his past performances.I dearly hope that he can make a come back and serve Indian cricket again and win matches single-handedly like he used to,its just that its looks unlikely now.But miracles happen,may be he will make a grand comeback like Ganguly.
2 people like this
@grvdubey11 (1879)
• India
5 Apr 13
I should make this clear that i made the comment with best intentions am not a Sehwag hater at all,my opinion is just based on his form for last 4 years ,in test matches that is.Best wishes.
2 people like this
@dollar3235 (2062)
• India
5 Apr 13
Hi fannekhan,
To be frank, I would say, Sehwag is not coming back. He can come back in form but the main issue is with his attitude. He doesn't have good relationship with Dhoni and with so many other options available, I don't think Dhoni will go for Sehwag even after Sachin retires. Yuvraj, Manoj Tiwari or Raina can easily fill that middle order batting lineup, however, Irfan is also coming back very soon. Dhoni being a big fan of all rounders, I'm sure he'll prefer to go with two all rounders than a specialist batsmen in middle order.
As far as Gautam Gambhir is concerned, he'll surely be back in the next test series. He might have a lean patch for some time but with a good attitude towards the game, he'll come back very soon. 
2 people like this
@dollar3235 (2062)
• India
6 Apr 13
I agree with you on the fact that Sehwag is the match winner for India and most brutal Indian opener ever. At this time, Indian cricket has got so much of money that even cancer be cured and you can come back to the game. The challenges that you've explained can be handled by Sehwag, however, his attitude towards the game is something that can't be handled. You've mentioned it right, even if Dhoni has differences with him, he'll not risk excluding Sehwag if Sehwag is in form but the problem here is, Sehwag is not serious about the game, he takes everything for granted. You can see it when he is fielding or while running between the wickets. More than any doctor or physical treatment, he needs a psychologist so that he can guide him to change his attitude for his own good.
India has not included, Sehwag, Zaheer or Bhajji for the champions trophy.
@fannekhan (783)
• India
6 Apr 13
The body language is not quite right. He gives the impression that he is not trying hard enough. There have been players who have appeared laid back and casual. Like Mark Waugh, David Gower, Inzamam. But each one was a gem, never to be under estimated. But you are right, there is too much money and too much competition in the game.Talented players are not getting chances as they used to in the past. You don't get a 17 year old making his test debut anymore. By 27, Sachin was a veteran where as Shikar Dhawan is just making his test debut. also, there is this ridiculous situation where Pujara is not gettinto the national ODI side. I believe that test players can adapt to DI and t-20 cricket but the reverse is not true. Pujara is very unlucky, in fact I think India is unlucky that he is not playing odi, maybe due to his injury prone knees.
@abhi_bangal (5518)
• Ahmednagar, India
6 Apr 13
A player like Virender Sehwag can never be kept quite, be it Tests or T20s. It is just a matter of time before he will make a comeback. But just saying that he will make a comeback, he is an experienced player and so on, will not make any sense. There is tough competition as you said.
But I hope that IPL will bring him good days as the tournament has proved to be so for many other players for their respective countries.
1 person likes this
@natliegleb (5175)
• India
5 Apr 13
it all depends on his activities and how well he is gonna perform in the future days for sure
1 person likes this
@thewonderboy (7501)
• India
6 Apr 13
His achievements in the field of cricket really proves what he is. Now Indian team is loaded with lot of new players and as the days pass by we are able to see that consistent layers can only have the position in the team. I feel that this is not the good time for viru because nothing is in favorable of him, which includes the luck, form and much more.
Now it's IPL season and there are many new youngsters in many teams and this platform will really give good chances for them to shoe their abilities which can finally lead to get them into the team. So situations tells that, viru has be more careful about his form. Hope everything goes in favor of him.
Good luck Viru
1 person likes this
@ptrikha_2 (47077)
• India
10 Apr 13
Even he is not playing the IPL 2013 because of injuries otherwise, he could have tried to make his way back to Indian T20 squad. Let us still see if he bounces back within the next year or so.
