Dravid's almost 38 actually... He'll retire after the series in SA I think.
He's already had success in Australia and West Indies in the past. It's just England, NZ and South Africa where he has to prove himself more.
Obviously you did not watch the test series to see how he got out and how he batted against Aussies.
He is vulnerable to short-pitched deliveries but not to bouncy tracks. He is a kind of player who likes to see the ball coming hard and fast.
I feel his performance against Steyn and Morkel in SA conditions will define him.
I saw the AUS bowler highlight before the series correctly, that Sehwag is vulnerable againts the short ball: Ind v Aus: Virender Sehwag wary against short ball - Mitchell Johnson | Cricket News | India v Australia | ESPN Cricinfo
They exposed it quite clearly, in each innings as he was dismissed to some form of short pitched bowling tactic. If that was not obvious to you, then i dont know what you were watching sir.
This article further solidifies my point: India v Australia: Virender Sehwag undone by well-laid plan | Cricket Features | India v Australia | ESPN Cricinfo
War added 4 Minutes and 38 Seconds later...
I have seen no evidence in his career of him scoring runs againts no quality pace attack on bouncy decks, when bowling attack him with at the body short pitched bowling like AUS did recently.
Apart from dismissal in last innings of 2nd test match he just gifted his wickets away. I saw the match not the highlights so I know how he batted without any danger. He looked circumspect in 2nd innings of Mohali test and eventually fell to a ball which he would have smacked for six in normal circumstances.
quote said:The decisive one was between Ricky Ponting and Ben Hilfenhaus, the most skilled of the Aussie bowlers. In his four earlier overs, he had managed just five deliveries at Sehwag. Now he had possibly a full over to work at Sehwag. There was a new plan here. There would be square legs in the circle, and another one in the deep. More accurate, more aggressive short deliveries would be bowled. And in Mohali he showed he has a mean bouncer to go with his outswing and occasional cutters.
The first one was so accurate it got Sehwag in the helmet. A hush fell on the ground. It sounded like a boo, but it like the nasty ones of yesterday. Hilfenhaus would have liked it. Nasser Hussain, one of the more successful captains in India, has spoken about the importance of silencing the indian crowds. It was perhaps that silence that let Hilfenhaus think more clearly.
If this was going to be short, Sehwag was going to pull it in front of square: he was going to be ready deep in the crease. Sure enough the ball was short, but it was the slower bouncer, and Sehwag ended up dragging the pull straight into the lap of the man waiting in the deep. For a moment, only Hilfenhaus could be heard in a stadium holding at least 30,000 people. He deserved to be. He had out-thought the most destructive batsman in cricket today.
He has been playing international cricket for lot time now and I will not take any other opening batsman of India ahead of him. He is not best batsman in business in terms of technique but he has his own style and it has been effective and successful. All Indian batsman are suspect against short pitch bowling and if you have seen him play abroad then you will know he is smart enough to duck under or let go these short pitch balls..
Also there are less good pacers going around to trouble him with short bowl as well. Actually its a trap that many have fell into. Rather than trying to get him out by using slips, they try to get him out caught at third man or on deep leg side fields.
Its not India's fault that whenever we win against any good team they are down on bowlers. In fact India has worst bowlers in world and if any side loose 20 wickets to us then they should be ashamed. Even WI has better bowlers than India.
Your logic is flawed. Ofcourse he'll get out to short pitch bowling if that's all Australia is going to bowl at him.
And secondly, Sehwag's favourite scoring zone is between point and third man, cutting bowlers away off the back foot. You need to specify short bowling at his body, because rubbish short bowling giving Sehwag even the slightest bit of width gets punished.
And secondly, Sehwag's favourite scoring zone is between point and third man, cutting bowlers away off the back foot. You need to specify short bowling at his body, because rubbish short bowling giving Sehwag even the slightest bit of width gets punished.
He very rarely plays the pull or the hook, but that's because he's fine without it. I mean, I love watching Sehwag bat, I follow India closely, and the pull shot is very rare for him. Given his attacking instinct he will go for it if feeling bogged down, like against Hilfenhaus, but he mostly just does what I mention above. His legside game is actually quite minimal. Flick off the hips, whipping deliveries through midwicket, sweep shot and occasionally lofting the ball down to long on. I don't think he does much else.
Short bowling at his body is a weak point, yes, but not as glaring a flaw as you're making it to sound. And on that note, very, very, very few batsman are comfortable against short bowling at the body. It's not so common in this day and age because you don't get a lot of pacey and bouncy tracks. Off the top of my head, you get Ponting, Dravid, Sachin (although he plays everything brilliantly). Smith and Strauss handle it well too.
But I agree on the general idea. I want to see him get big scores in the coming tours to South Africa and England before I'll put him in the bracket of one of the best openers of all time. But he's definitely India's best after Gavaskar, without a doubt.
And thirdly, he may not be completely comfortable with the short ball aimed at the body or deliveries that cut into him, but he's worked out his own way of dealing with them. He'll duck, he'll flick them off his hips for a single, and if he sees it coming early he'll whip it away.
But I agree on the general idea. I want to see him get big scores in the coming tours to South Africa and England before I'll put him in the bracket of one of the best openers of all time. But he's definitely India's best after Gavaskar, without a doubt.
They don't bowl full to Sehwag for long enough to wait for him to get out that way. If 80% of the bowling he faces is short pitched, he is bound to get out to short pitched bowling. You can't use that as direct evidence to point to a flaw.Uh what?.
I dont understand how you are going to tell me my logic is flawed & defend it by saying "Ofcourse he'll get out to short pitch bowling if that's all Australia is going to bowl at him".