Virender Sehwag’s form slump began in Malaysia during the DLF Cup and it has been a point of worry ever since. He has played in 15 ODIs since August 2006 and managed only 225 runs at 17.30 per innings. Only one score of 50-plus and just three wickets. Towards the later part of his slump, Robin Uthappa came about and asked many questions that Sehwag needs to answer…
Why should he be picked ahead of Uthappa? Simply because Uthappa is in better form and higher on confidence! Sehwag may well make it work in the warm-up games and the initial round, but his performance against some of the major teams over the last six months (since August 2006) has been abysmal to say the least. His last three scores have been 19, 12 and 46 against Sri Lanka, the team in India’s group for the opening round. They probably have him sorted out by now!
Compare this with Uthappa: 8 matches since April 15, 2006 when he made his debut against England. 255 runs, three scores of 50-plus and a strike rate that will even make Sehwag take notice. More than the number of runs he has scored, Uthappa has also managed to demoralise the opposition bowling in the manner Sehwag used to maybe a year ago. On his day, he can do that even today. But this is the World Cup and is it worth risking an out of form player when you have someone just as effective?
Sehwag has the experience, you say, but Uthappa has youth! And it shows in the difference in their fielding standards. Sehwag is no slouch and has a safe pair of hands, but Uthappa, in the current team, would rank in the top 3 fielders in the side along with Dinesh Kaarthick and Yuvraj Singh.
The ball is now in Rahul Dravid and Greg Chappell’s court. They need to decide who to include for this decision could well affect the final composition of the team. If Sehwag is in the team, should he open? Why should Uthappa be left out? Who should Uthappa or Sehwag open with? Will playing Sehwag and Uthappa affect team balance?
Dravid has a lot of questions to answer and our feeling for the team composition would be to maintain the combination that has done well for India in the last two series: Uthappa and Ganguly to open followed by Dravid, Tendulkar, Yuvraj and Dhoni in the middle. And then the all-rounders and bowlers which is another topic of discussion altogether!
Some may argue that both Sehwag and Uthappa can play, but both are openers and natural strikers. Their styles are similar and not complementary. Ganguly at the top has pretty much sealed his place and if anyone other than Uthappa should open, it may as well be Tendulkar. It would also help retain the right-left combination. This effectively leaves Sehwag as the all-rounder coming in at No. 6 or 7 and by then, most of the innings is over. A pinch-hitters role can be performed effectively by Agarkar, Zaheer or even Harbhajan! So why is Sehwag needed?