Beneath a casual, misleading exterior lies fierce commitment and determination. Virender Sehwag might sometimes give the impression of indifference and carelessness, but nothing can be farther from the truth.

Catapulted to the Test opener’s slot in England five years back because the middle-order was impregnable, and yet an avenue had to be found for him to express his awesome talent, Sehwag blossomed into one of the finest openers in Indian history. The country’s only Test triple centurion made attractive runs in all parts of the world, in his inimitable aggressive fashion.


Rough patch
It was almost inevitable, given the brand of batsmanship he portrayed, that Sehwag’s tryst with a rough patch would eventuate at some stage. That it came later, rather than sooner, was a pleasant surprise; when the axe did fall, though, it fell with tremendous force, severing his connections first with the Test side, then with the limited-overs team.

Sehwag’s last Test was in January in Cape Town. He hasn’t played for the country since the three-match one-day series in Bangladesh in May, though on Tuesday, he was included in the team for the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa. Over the last few months, Sehwag has watched his one-time colleagues parade their wares only on TV.

“It hurts a lot, because you know that when you go and play for India, everybody expects you to perform. Now that you are not playing for the country, you are missing so much,” Sehwag told Deccan Herald. “It hurts a lot, I am waiting for my chance.”

Impressive Test record
Sehwag’s is an impressive Test record -- 4155 runs from 52 matches at 49.46, including 12 centuries -- as opposed to a less flattering one-day career that has yielded just 5153 runs from 175 games at 31.61, and eight hundreds.

He readily admitted that he hadn’t done justice to his talent in one-day cricket. “I analysed my performances of the last year,” he said, as frankly as only he can. “I didn’t consistently perform well in one-day cricket, but I did score in Test matches. Before the South Africa tour, I got runs in the West Indies, where my average was almost 50. Prior to that, I scored runs against England, Pakistan and Australia, all teams I played against.

“But in one-day cricket, I was not a consistent performer. I was not converting my starts. My average is around 28 or 29, and that is not good enough for a player of my calibre. That’s why I have to think about my game, especially one-day cricket, and take it to the next level.”

Being dropped from the Test team, however, came like a bolt from the blue. “I was surprised, but you can’t do anything about it,” he observed.  ”I was a flop on the South African tour in three Tests, six innings (89 runs). It happens -- sometimes selectors keep faith in you, they will give you one more chance; sometimes they will drop you. I am disappointed but not distraught, because I know that if I work hard, maybe I will get back into the Test side again and the one-day team. I know I will perform well and maybe get back my opening slot or whatever they give.”

Pat for Jaffer and Kaarthick
In Sehwag’s absence, Wasim Jaffer and Dinesh Kaarthick have struck up an excellent Test tandem. “I am happy for Kaarthick and Wasim because after a long time, India have got good openers. They are scoring well, they are making big partnerships. Because of that partnership, India won the Nottingham Test match.

“Okay, I got my chances and I didn’t score runs,” replied the 28-year-old when asked if their success wasn’t detrimental to his comeback plans. “But I am not the kind of player who prays for someone else to flop. My good wishes are always with them. I sent them messages when they did well. I told them ‘Congrats, well done.’ I urged them to convert their starts into hundreds.”

Ask him if he has identified what has caused his downfall of late, and back comes the answer: “I have been practising batting, but more than that, I have been doing lots of yoga to control my mind. I think that is more beneficial than spending four hours at the batting nets because what I feel is that I primarily have a mindset problem. I know when my mindset is okay, I will go and get runs, because I have got runs in all conditions. It is just that I need to control my mind, control my feelings and my emotions and play according to the situation.

“I am a strokeplayer, so it is very hard to control my game. I am trying to tell myself to spend 20-25 overs in the middle, and then the concentration and the flow will be back. It’s very difficult to curb your instincts, but you have to do it. You have to be positive, but in a good manner. You can’t go out and try to smash every ball, but if there is a ball to hit, you must hit it. Controlled aggression is a must.”

So, is he more controlled now? “I am trying to control myself to play for the team, but also to play for myself. Sometimes I have to play a selfish game, play for 50s or 100s so that it will be good for me, and for the team as well.”