Two peas in a pod

India would not have been able to have a run like they had this year without major contributions from Sehwag and Tendulkar. Sehwag probably went one up on Tendulkar with his triple century against South Africa and also a five-wicket haul against theAussies.

It has been an eventful last quarter for Team India, during which period a couple of mega stars bowed out of the game after contributing towards the team’s success against Australia, as a result of which the reputation of India was further enhanced. The quality of cricket witnessed during that hard-fought series was top-drawer stuff and the knowledgeable Indian public, obviously, expected the Indians to continue their good work against the Englishmen.

The visiting Englishmen were outplayed in the one-day series before the last two ODIs were cancelled due to the 26/11 terrorist attacks. A lot of discussions and hard work behind the scenes from the BCCI and the ECB ensured that the Englishmen returned to play the Test series.

The first Test in Chennai was a cracker of a match which only proved that Team India was not complacent after their triumph in the one-day series. On the other hand, the visitors deserve a lot of credit for taking a brave decision to come back and put up a grand show and give India a run for their money.

Now that the year 2008 is coming to an end, Team India can look back with satisfaction. The only blot was their defeat in Sri Lanka. Though the formula for India’s success has been the contribution from almost every member of the team, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar would look back at the year 2008 with a lot of satisfaction. Sehwag has climbed to the top of the ladder in individual aggregate — he has been one of the main reasons for India performing as well as they did against Australia and England. Of course, Tendulkar would view 2008 with mixed feelings not because he has been below par but because of all the flak he copped before the start of the home series against Australia. Tendulkar has also completed 1000 runs in the calendar year and the guru-sishya (Tendulkar-Sehwag) duo has done themselves and the team proud.

Sehwag and Tendulkar are different in certain ways, but they both dominate the attacks in different ways. While Sehwag makes it his business to smash the ball around the park and sincerely believes that anything can be achieved provided the mindset is right, Tendulkar adopts a more mature approach in a manner that a guru would be expected to, eschewing risk and stonewalling the opposition. Then, of course, Tendulkar was somewhat like Sehwag in the early 1990s when, in his youthful exuberance, he took on the likes of Donald and McDermott with gay abandon and forced them to bowl with a sweeper cover in Test cricket!!

Over the years, the Mumbaikar has decided to be the calming influence on his team as he realises that Sehwag has taken over the mantle from him as the destroyer of bowlers. It is an open secret that both Sehwag and Tendulkar have mutual admiration for each other and it is only fair that Sehwag openly recognises the influence that Tendulkar has had on him over the years.

The remarkable thing about both Tendulkar and Sehwag is that they have not lost their poise despite being tested to the extreme, be it critics, injuries or vagaries of selection policies. While Tendulkar never bothered to react to the criticism against him after the Sri Lankan series, Sehwag was equally pragmatic when he was dropped from the team for a year or so. Their aggression is limited to only mauling the bowlers and once they lay their bats down in the dressing room, it is almost like a different persona taking control of them.

It would have been very tempting as well as easy for either Sehwag or Tendulkar to react at various times, but they chose not to as their focus was not on trivial victories but on overcoming the challenges on the cricket field. Thank God for that as Team India would not have been able to have a run like they had this year without major contributions from these two batsmen. Sehwag probably went one up on Tendulkar with his triple century against South Africa and also a five-wicket haul against the Aussies.

However, Sehwag till today has immense respect for his guru and I am sure he will continue to do so in the future as well. Sehwag not only bats with a simple approach but is equally simple in his views and outlook on life. Though he struck me that way when I met him first, I am sure that he has absorbed the fact that his guru has remained down to earth after all these years and accomplishments.

The crowd pullers that they are, Sehwag and Tendulkar prefer to be left alone once they are through with their work on the field. The guru-sishya combination has yet again proved to be a formidable force in international cricket and hopefully they will go on to dominate the bowlers around the world in the years to come as well. They both may be adopting different methods but the common denominator is the simplicity that separates them from the rest of the pack. In as much as Sehwag gleaned a lot from Tendulkar, the younger lot would be better off if they pick up a few points on batting and etiquette from the guru-sishya combination.