Virender Sehwag is not one to mince words. But his recent criticism of Kings XI Punjab’s foreign players at the team’s elimination from the IPL-10, was met with considerable anger across the globe. Sehwag, the head of cricket operations slammed captain Glenn Maxwell at a press conference saying he was disappointed with the Australian cricketer for not taking responsibility for the loss.
No doubt, franchisee cricket is more about the business and the management expects performance for the money they have invested. But, being a former player Sehwag should realise his public rebuke was totally uncalled for. His fans too felt that his comments were in poor taste.
Did Sehwag practise what he preaches now as a cricketer, in his new avatar as coach-cum-mentor-cum-head of cricket operations? Has he forgotten how many times he played similar innings to that of Maxwell’s in his heyday — as a Delhi Daredevils player and even for Team India at times? Whenever he tries to go for a big hit, which he could have avoided to save his team from a batting collapse, the reason given was “but that’s Viru’s natural game!”
“Sehwag criticising Maxwell for playing like Sehwag,” is how a Twitter comment hit the nail on the head! It should be noted that Sehwag captained Delhi Daredevils in 52 matches between 2008 and 2012, but the best the franchise could achieve was reaching the semi-finals thrice despite boasting one of the strongest squads in the tournament. During the IPL inaugural, Sehwag looked sensational as he scored 406 runs with a strike-rate of 184, but he let the team down spectacularly in a crucial semi-final match against Rajasthan Royals by coming a cropper. The next season, again in the semi-final, Sehwag threw his wicket away by playing a cheeky lap shot as the dismissal killed Delhi’s momentum from a commanding position and Deccan Chargers made the most of it.
Sunil Gavaskar, who was commentating on that match, was himself shocked by Sehwag’s shot selection. “You have to ask why a batsman with so much power and capability would play a shot like that? That’s not his strength, it’s his weakness,” Gavaskar had said.
After a poor IPL season in 2013 followed by a disastrous Ranji campaign, Daredevils had little option but to send Sehwag back to the auction pool. And his stint with Kings XI Punjab as a player wasn’t good either as he was released ahead of the 2016 edition.
In IPL-8, his last season as a player, he scored just 99 runs in eight matches.
At the T20 World Cup in 2009, Sehwag’s fitness problems scuttled the team’s title defense. The uncertainty over his injury led to reports of a rift between Sehwag and the captain MS Dhoni.
Former India middle-order batsman Hemang Badani feels it was unfair to put the entire blame on overseas players for Kings XI’s dismal end. “The squad didn’t have enough firepower in the bowling department. I think, Kings XI made a mistake at the auction. They should have picked a strong bowler. You can’t have guys like Ishant Sharma (wicketless in six games) playing T20 format anymore,” Badani said.
Former India pacer Ajit Agarkar echoed similar views, “They never looked like a top four team. What they needed in the auction was an overseas seamer.”
Virender Sehwag
IPL Teams:
Delhi Daredevils: 2008-2013; Kings XI Punjab: 2014-15
Matches: 104
Runs: 2728
Avg: 27.55
SR: 155.44
Performance of Delhi under Sehwag
* 2008 —semi finalists Sehwag scored 3 off 4 balls as Delhi all out for 87 in pursuit of Rajasthan’s 192.
* 2009 — semi finalists Sehwag scored 39 off 31 balls, but threw his wicket away by playing a lap shot at a crucial juncture as Deccan Chargers won by 6 wickets. Sehwag quit Delhi captaincy for Champions League; Gambhir took over in his absence, after which Viru came to lead the team in 2011.
* 2010 — finished fifth
* 2011 — finished 10th
* 2012 — Despite finishing as the top team in the league, Delhi were eliminated in the play-offs. They lost the Qualifier 1 to KKR by 18 runs and Sehwag scored 10. Delhi lost Qualifier 2 to Chennai Super Kings by 86 runs and Sehwag made just one run.
Captaincy record
Matches: 53
Won: 28
Lost: 25
Win %: 52.83
