World bows to 'little Buddha'
Sehwag’s brand value soars after stellar 219
The international media gave a round of applause to Virender Sehwag after his spectacular double century on Thursday.
“No batsman in the modern game destroys attacks quite like Sehwag when he is in the right mood and when presented like he was with an easy paced batting pitch and short boundaries, there was always going to be problems for the West Indies. When he raced to his century off only 69 deliveries, Sehwag was unstoppable,” said The Daily Telegraph.
The Guardian said Sehwag’s understanding of the game is quite different from his contemporaries. “Virender Sehwag’s technique is not revolutionary, just thrillingly heightened. The way he sees the game is so different,” it said.
“What is different about Sehwag is his mind, the way he sees the game. Essentially, he is free. Where tradition insists that the new ball and fresh bowlers and aggressive fields are threats, he sees wide open spaces, a hard ball that will fly off the bat,” it added.
The newspaper likened Sehwag to Brian Lara, saying he simplifies the game. “Viru doesn’t have Gayle’s shoulders or Jayasuriya’s forearms or Haydo’s pecs. He has none of the nervous intensity of Slater or the cross-eyed desire of Hayden. He doesn’t really have the insouciance of Gayle or Barry Richards,” it said. “He is instead an almost implacable little Buddha, soft-edged, calmly accepting of the fates, whether they swing for him or against.
“If there is one player he is most like, it is Lara, in that he can hit unstoppably not just for hours but for days. It is they who have built monolithic scores most regularly. Yet Lara didn’t open, and he often gave the first hour or so of his innings to the bowler. That has not been Sehwag’s way,” it added.
Meanwhile, the advertisers have rushed in to sign on the flamboyant batsman with deals worth an estimated Rs 10 crore. The record-breaking innings by ‘Nawab of Najafgarh’ has enhanced his value in the brand endorsement market, experts said.
A number of inquiries have starting flowing in from potential advertisers and the cricketer could sign atleast 4-5 endorsement deals. These deals could be collectively worth Rs 10 crore a year, going by an estimated annual fee of Rs 2-2.5 crore charged by Sehwag for every brand endorsement deal.
“In the next two months, we hope to sign up with atleast 4-5 new brands,” sports marketing company PMG Chief Operating Officer Melroy D’Souza said. PMG, promoted by legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, handles Sehwag’s brand endorsement deals.
“He (Sehwag) has come back with a bang and put to rest all the distractors at rest. There were already a few queries coming in for brands, but the interest level has clearly gone up,” D’Souza said. According to sources, the cricketer charges between Rs 2 crore to Rs 2.5 crore for one deal per year.
‘Always believed Viru could do it’
India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was on Friday full of praise for Virender Sehwag and said he always believed that the swashbuckling opener would go past 200 in ODIs.
“I want to say that others may have said that are a few who could score double century in ODIs, but I always believed Viru could always score 200 on his day.
“With Viru, it’s not just about big shots, but calculative batting,” Dhoni said. The India skipper was glad that both the double centurions in this form of the game were Indians, and hoped they achieve the incredible feat again. “I am proud that both Viru and Sachin Paaji are Indians, and would not mind if they score double centuries again,” he told reporters.
