India Without Tendulkar? No Problems for Perfect Match Gambhir & Sehwag

Not too long ago I had stated that the absence of the Master, Sachin Tendulkar, would enable India to select an heir apparent at the opening slot once he has departed.

Since Sehwag almost walks into the team, irrespective of how many he scores, the team management needed only to find a partner for the “Sultan of Multan”.

Gambhir, it seems, is quite snug in the shoes left vacant by Ganguly not too long ago! He displayed during the IPL what a perfect foil his clinical approach is to Sehwag’s beligerent one. The opening game only affirms his potential in the longest single day event of cricket.

With the emergence of Shikhar Dhawan, Parthiv Patel and Swapnil Asnodkar during the T20, the top of the order is suddenly no longer a headache for the selectors (well, at least for the ODIs!).

Gambhir played the number 3 role to perfection during the tri-series Down Under. Slamming a couple of tons, and ending up the top scorer of the tournament and cemented his place in the senior one day squad. His performance compared to the other famous, highly reputed number 3’s; Ricky Ponting and Kumar Sanagakkara. It leaves one spell bound!

The part of his game which thrills me most is his ability to play spin. I have said it before, and I’ll say it again, this guy is in the league of the Laxmans and the Gangulys, and may very soon rival the Tendulkars and Laras. If he made the great Muralitharan look like a club class bowler during the CB series, he made a mockery out of every other, including Shane Warne himself, during the IPL!

If he sorts out the few chinks in his armory, for example his habit of trying to deflect almost everything on off stump down to third man, he could very well become a run machine for his side.

Now, let’s take a look at his partner. It was by no standard a typical Sehwag innings; the strike rate was one that would pass with merit in a T20 game! While he was helped quite a bit by the erratic bowling of the Pakistan outfit, his composure was one to be admired.

It seems he too is going his idol’s way of cutting down on extravagance and playing percentage shots, whilst still maintaining astonishing strike rates. Indeed, it has taken the Little Master almost half a decade to devise a perfect batting strategy for the ODI game, but Sehwag doesn’t have the pressures the Champion shouldered for a decade and a half, nor is he dogged by the injuries, not yet at least.

In light of it all, he seems in a position to imbibe this near perfect technique that has helped the senior statesman of the team maul in all those runs.

Bigger tests await these two, both in different stages of their careers, yet bound together by time and Selectors. The biggest will be the Tests. While Sehwag will need to fill the gap between those towering hundreds with slightly more reasonable scores, Gambhir is yet to cement a permanent place among the men wearing white.

It used to be said about the great Michael Bevan. One wonders; if Tests were played in coloured clothing, would Gambhir be more consistent?