The Hindu : Sport : Sehwag's bowling

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Saturday, Jun 17, 2006

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Sehwag's bowling — a credible option

S. Ram Mahesh

He's always had the talent, says Greg Chappell

Basseterre: The evolution of Virender Sehwag's bowling could be key to India doing well overseas. Now, not for a moment is it being suggested that he is an off-spinning all-rounder, though, on the evidence of the last four innings he does provide an option more credible than fill-in.

Sehwag's bowling helps India with balance in team composition. Greg Chappell and Rahul Dravid have said — indeed it's something of a refrain — that playing five bowlers is the way to go for the side to win abroad.

The strategy is based on crunching numbers from past Tests abroad — India concedes on average more than 390 in the first innings. From that situation the most the extra batsman can do is drag the game back. The proactive move is to restrict the first innings, and that's where five bowlers enter the mix. But, it puts pressure on a batting line-up — pressure that can prove terminal with batting line-ups that are short on confidence and form.

Nature of role

This is where Sehwag comes in. The first two Tests of a series are crucial: teams are inclined to play six batsmen. It puts India in a quandary: does the management play both world-class spinners — Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh — with the risk of the conditions not helping them or does it play three fast-medium bowlers?

Sehwag's off-spin allows the team to cheat just a little and cover that base. What Dravid thought of it was revealing: "It was a day when we had five bowlers, the way Viru was bowling. In such a case you tend to bowl one bowler a little less," said the Indian captain when asked about under-bowling V.R.V. Singh on the final day of the second Test.

"He was really enjoying his bowling," said Dravid. "Hope it will help with his confidence (as a bowler). He bowls lovely lines, bowls beautiful areas. It's just a question of being consistent. With more and more bowling he'll hopefully get that consistency. That can help us mix it up. Knowing we could use Sehwag, we could go with the 3-1 option."

Sehwag's off-spin has a lot going for it. The 27-year-old sets off like a Hindi movie actor in the black-and-white age — a stroll that commences the wooing of the maiden — - and reaches delivery stride with six easy steps.

Once there he does a few things right: his front leg lands in front of off-stump and pivots; this leg doesn't buckle much either.

Opportunity is the key

Consequently, he reaps the rewards of the pivot and the braced front leg: side-spin and over-spin respectively.

Side-spin brings with it drift and turn; over-spin yields bounce. When Sehwag gets it all together, he looks very good. "He's always had the talent," said Chappell. "It's just the question of him getting an opportunity."

The Najafgarh resident has had the opportunity on this tour. After an indifferent start in the ODIs, he bowled a brilliant spell in the final game at Port of Spain — ten overs on the trot for 29 and a wicket.

And in the two Tests he's taken eight wickets from 69.1 overs, and even bowled his version of the doosra. This after having bowled under 110 overs in 45 previous Tests.

Where does this leave Harbhajan? It's reliably learnt that the off-spinner from Punjab was in the reckoning for the second Test before a stiff groin ruled him out.

The session with Lance Gibbs on bowling the straighter one (Gibbs told The Hindu it was to do with changing "the position of the finger on the seam and making it run along with the shine"" would have helped.

But, if the conditions here at Warner Park convince Dravid to play three seamers and six batsmen, the Uncle Fester look-alike will be the off-spin alternative.

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