The key batsmen in the upcoming Indo-Australia Test series will be the ones at the top of the order - Virender Sehwag and Matthew Hayden.
Hayden brings to the table an imposing physique and the tendency to dominate attacks even though he spends a big portion of his innings on the defensive. But even in defense he looks like he is attacking, simply because when he goes on the offensive there are very few batsman who can belt the ball harder than he does. I am more scared of his batting than I am Ponting's. If the Indian bowlers do not get him quickly, I fear we are in for a long series. The last time the two teams played each other, he scored three centuries in three Tests.
Virender Sehwag is the ultimate trump card - just as likely to get out caught at third man as he is to reach a triple century with a six. Not surprisingly, his career strike rate (runs per 100 balls) is a mind-boggling 77.45 in Tests (99.14 in ODI's). (Frame of reference: Sourav Ganguly's strike rate in ODI's is 73.70!!). Ironically, his slower innings have been the ones that have yielded less than 100 runs. Once he is set, Sehwag tends to motor along at well over run a ball. (For instance, his second triple century in Tests was scored off just 278 balls). Slammed by many foroften "throwing" his wicket away, Sehwag impresses me as the one player on the Indian team who plays to his strengths all the time. He is easily the Indian batsman most feared by the opposition today. And that is saying something when the others are Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman, and Ganguly!
Peter Roebuck echoes similar sentiments in his latest column.
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