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Back on track During the course of his 11th Test ton, coming in his 40th Test, Sehwag scored the fastest century by an Indian opener, breaking Sunil Gavaskar’s 23-year-old record by one ball by reaching his first 100 in only 93 balls. Gavaskar had reached his century in 94 balls against Clive Lloyd’s all-conquering West Indians in the Delhi Test of the 1983 series. When Sehwag goes past 100, he makes sure he gets a big one. His last seven centuries have been scores in excess of 150, which betters Don Bradman’s streak of six 150-plus scores.(see table) Pak nemesis Sehwag has always enjoyed playing against Pakistan. It was the cavalier batsman’s third 200-plus score against Pakistan, with his Test (and Indian) best of 309 in the Multan Test of 2004 being the crowning glory. He scored 201 at Bangalore in the previous Test encounter between the arch-rivals. Of his last seven centuries, four have come against Pakistan and all are in excess of 150. He has played seven Tests against Pakistan of his total of 40 and averages 112.36 (overall average 56.73). In the number of runs scored against Pakistan, he overtook Mohinder Amarnath’s run tally of 1080 runs in 18 Tests during the course of the Lahore Test. Only Gavaskar (2,089 with five tons in 24 Tests) and Dilip Vengsarkar (1284 with two tons in 22 Tests) stood ahead of Sehwag, who had 1236 runs to his credit, more than one third of the total runs he has scored in Test career (3574). The swashbuckling Delhi batsman smacked a whopping 48 boundaries (47 fours and a six) during his knock to break the Indian record for most runs scored through boundaries in an innings, earlier held by V.V.S. Laxman who had hit 44 fours during his 281-run knock against Australia in Kolkata in 2001. John Edrich leads the list with 57 boundaries (52 fours and five sixes) against New Zealand at Leeds, while Matthew Hayden comes in next with 49 (38 fours and 11 sixes) against Zimbabwe at Perth.
Run machine Not only against Pakistan, Sehwag has displayed his natural batting style against highly rated Test playing teams like Australia and South Africa. He averages 68.50 against South Africa and 49.76 against Australia, having hit two tons each against these teams. Sehwag is the biggest strength of Team India. Of the 40 Tests played by him, India have won 15, lost 10 with the rest 15 being drawn. He averages 51.33 in matches won and 65.13 in drawn matches. His fans are happy over his comeback after a string of so-called missed opportunities. Playing against Sri Lanka at home, he merely scored 56 runs in two Tests at an average of 18.66. He had been stumbling in his 20s and 30s in recent times and his dismissals even raised a few murmurs, some even asking for his axe. But he has come back with a bang and silenced his critics with an amazing knock at Gaddafi Stadium. “I was not making runs before this series, but I was confident that I will get runs against Pakistan and I did,” said Sehwag after his blistering knock. Coach Greg Chappell too stood by him. “I was never worried about him,” says Chappell. However, Sehwag missed a golden opportunity of entering into the annals of history along with his captain Rahul Dravid after they failed to break a 50-year-old world record for the opening-wicket partnership by four runs. But Sehwag has also become the first Indian opener to be involved in three double-ton stands. The Indian opening pair had put on 410 runs. The world record stands in the name of India’s Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy who made 413 runs against New Zealand in Chennai in 1955-56. But their 410-run partnership in 76.5 overs was the 10th best for all wickets in Test history and only the 11th 400-plus stand ever. The highest for any wicket stands at 576 for the second wicket between Roshan Mahanama and Sanath Jayasuriya at Colombo in 1997. |
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the right moves His serene disposition hides a steely will to win. Parimarjan Negi is yet to enter his teens but he is already on the threshold of becoming the 12th Grandmaster from India. He has set his sights on attaining the GM title before 2006 runs its course. Negi gained the GM norm in the Masters section of the Hastings International Chess Congress in England early this month to put himself in line for the coveted GM title. He became the youngest GM-norm holder when he drew with sixth-seeded Ukrainian GM Yuriv Kuzubov in the ninth round after a nerve-racking 86-move battle. He had become an International Master, the youngest from India, after the fourth round. “I was quite nervous. I was lucky to survive when I drew with Kuzubov”, Negi said on his return to New Delhi. Less than a month short of his 13th birthday, this Class VII student of the Saket-based Amity International School in Delhi, bettered the record of Koneru Humpy of Andhra Pradesh by becoming the youngest GM-norm holder at the age of 12 years and 330 days. Humpy had achieved the feat in 2001 at the age of 14 years and 84 days. Ranked 26th, Negi faced eight Grandmasters and an International Master in the tournament, and lost only twice, against eventual champion Ukrainian GM Valerij Neverov and the fancied Vladimir Belov of Russia. He defeated three Grandmasters and drew with five others. Negi earned 45 rating points after gaining six points from the 10-round battle. Two other Indians, Gurpreet Pal and world under-10 champion Sahaj Grover, finished on 5.5 and four points, respectively. Coached by Kazakh GM Evgeny Vladimirov, International Master Vishal Sareen, GB Joshi and others, Negi attributed his success to “team work”. He said coaches helped him iron out his flaws and increase his strong points. “I like to play attacking chess, but I am weak in positional play”, the young champion elaborated. He devotes about seven hours to chess every day but does not neglect his studies. He is a brilliant student but finds Hindi tough. The winner of the Asian under-10 chess title at Teheran in 2002, the Commonwealth under-10 title in 2003 and his maiden IM norm during the Bad Wissen Tournament at Hamburg the same year, Negi says his ultimate aim is to emulate Viswanathan Anand. Anand was one of the first to congratulate him after he gained the GM norm. The year 2005 was the most successful for Negi as he got his remaining IM norms at the Dubai Open, Sort Open in Spain and the Essent Open in Holland. And the year ended on a high note, when he defeated GM Sergey Erenburg of Israel in Hastings to win the International Master title. With the Delhi Chess Association rewarding him for winning the GM norm and promising more funds for him, Negi is set to continue his quest for greater glory. |
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Fast forward
On current form, one forward who deserves to be in the Indian hockey team is Deepak Thakur. He is proving to be the trump card for Chandigarh Dynamos in the Premier Hockey League, scoring four of his team’s seven goals in their first three matches. Yet, he does not figure in the list of probables for a training camp ahead of next month’s India-Pakistan Test series. Even as top Indian forwards Gagan Ajit Singh and Prabhjot Singh, who both play for Sher-e-Jallandhar, are struggling to regain their touch, Deepak is enjoying a purple patch. He scored twice against Maratha Warriors and once each against Bangalore Lions and Sher-e-Jallandhar, even as he set up a goal for Dutchman Baldar Bomans in the match against the Lions. No wonder the Dynamos, who won the PHL Tier II title in Hyderabad last year, are at the top of the table in Tier I at the halfway stage this time with three successive wins. A product of the Centre of Excellence at the NIS, Patiala, Deepak played in the PHL last year for Sher-e-Jallandhar, who finished runners-up. His absence is being felt as the Shers are battling to avoid relegation to Tier II. Their loss has been the Dynamos’ gain. Deepak, who plays for Indian Oil in domestic tournaments, showed that he is a gutsy fellow during the Nehru hockey championship in New Delhi recently. Trying to play the peacemaker in a clash between Indian Oil players and Namdharis, he suffered a gash on his hand. Despite the injury, he played in the semifinal against Punjab and Sind Bank which began soon after the fight. His team lost, but Deepak won hearts for his courage. On the international front, the Una-based Deepak has not played for India since the eight-nation Rabo Trophy in the Netherlands last year. The two-time Olympian didn’t do well in that tournament, but neither did several other key players as India finished a dismal seventh. Deepak was dropped from the squad for the Champions Trophy in Chennai in December, where Gagan Ajit-led India hit rock bottom. Most of the Indian forwards came a cropper in the elite six-nation event. With 2006 being a hectic year for Indian hockey, the 25-year-old Deepak ought to make a comeback sooner than later. There is the six-match home-and-away series against Pakistan, followed by the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne (March), the World Cup in Germany (September) and the Doha Asian Games (December). Hopefully, his consistent performances won’t keep him out of the side for long.
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Don’t discard quality players Apropos of the write-up “All is not lost” (December 24), I endorse the views of Balbir Singh Sr, the author of The Golden Hat-Trick, that all is not lost and we can still regain our former glory in hockey. For that strong willpower, self-confidence, enterprise, proper planning and progressive outlook is required. Quality coaches and players should not be discarded at the drop of a hat. They should be given ample time to work in unison to fetch tangible results. Ever since the ignominious dismissal of coach Rajinder Singh Sr, the performance of the Indian team has gone from bad to worse and nothing has been done earnestly to stem the rot. The “stop-gap” policy has played havoc with Indian hockey. The reins should be entrusted to people like Balbir Singh Sr, under whose managerial guidance India won their only World Cup in 1975. Australian legend Richard Charlesworth has evinced interest in coaching the Indian team because he appreciate Indian players’ potential. The services of such all-time greats are required to revive Indian hockey. Tarsem S. Bumrah, Superb win India followed their thumping 6-1 win in the ODI series against Sri Lanka with a comprehensive 2-0 victory in the Tests. Wrapping up both the ODI and Test series at home was an achievement. The series brought to the fore Irfan Pathan, who blossomed into an all-rounder. He proved his batting prowess at whatever order he was asked to bat. M.S. Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh were the other heroes for India in the series. Newcomers like R.P. Singh and Suresh Raina also performed creditably. These wins will go a long way in boosting the morale of Team India after the unpleasant events of the recent past. H.S. Sandhu,
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Though the Lahore Test ended in a tame draw, India gained a psychological advantage over Pakistan largely due to one man. In a match that saw six centuries being scored, Virender Sehwag, the Nawab of Najafgarh, stole the limelight with his swashbuckling 254 off 247 balls, ending a run of low scores.
His fans compare him with his idol Sachin Tendulkar. But it is half true. Like Tendulkar, he is short and square with curly hair, plays the straight drive, backfoot punch and whip off the hips identically, but leaves Tendulkar in the shade when it comes to audacity. 
Flamboyant Sehwag also cracked the second-fastest ever double hundred in Test history, off 182 balls with 38 fours. Only New Zealand’s Nathan Astle, who scored a double hundred against England off 153 balls in 2001-02, has a better record than Sehwag in terms of balls consumed to reach 200. But Sehwag’s 254 off 247 balls is the highest Test score made at more than a run a ball, beating Astle’s record with his innings of 222 off 168 balls.
