Gambhir-Sehwag: Dangerous Duo

If Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir are on the crease then everyone is compelled to expect some splendid batting on the ground. Audiences eagerly waiting in Rajkot’s Madhavrao Scindia stadium too were dreaming about Sehwag-Gambhir rocking the ground. But their dreams were shattered when Gambhir did not score a single run in the first over of James Anderson five balls then all eyes shifted to Shewag who at the other end was waiting for his chance . Second over was of Stuart Broad and Sehwag hit the second ball out of the boundary then he missed few ball and took just one run. And same was with Gambhir who in 15 balls scored just three runs seeing this audience looked frustrated in the initials overs of the match.

But, every thing changed after the sixth over. In this over of Broad suddenly it seemed Ghambhir’s bat started firing and he hit three fours consequently. Then what both as they are know for their attacking play, displayed a dazzling batting thrashing the English bowlers. And before Gautam Gambhir was declared out they had the partnership of 127 runs on the board. In the twentieth over of Samit Patel Gambhir was out with 51 runs scored.

For England taking Gambhir’s wicket was the utmost important task but before his wicket was take maximum damage to visitors was done. Gambhir and Sehwag had given a flying start to the team but it was not just giving a good start but again these both showed to be a dangerous opening combo for the team. There is a saying that if Start is good end will be good too and this was proved by both the openers. Both first tested the wicket, studied the line and length of the bowlers and worked on the strategy of staying on the wicket for long. But after settling they displayed the real sense of one day matches and thrashed the England bowlers so badly that Captain KP was bound to bring his six bowlers in just twenty overs.

Both these batsmen started creating troubles for the English bowlers at the very start of the game. Their combination is giving a new definition to the opening batsmen of Indian cricket. At one point of time, Sehwag kept scoring runs quickly standing at one side of the crease. But now, with same intensity Gambhir is also seen matching with Sehwag’s footsteps, which is totally a new experience for Indian cricket. Their partnership not only creates trouble for rivals but also paves way for team’s success.

Big secret of the attacking batting style of this combo is the understanding between them. Though the right and left hand combination is one reason which help to break the rhythm of the bowlers but the way they understand each other on the wicket plays the most vital role in breaking the backbone of the opponents. Both the batsmen are not only partners in ODIs, Test and T-20 but also they give each other company in ONGC, IPL and Ranji Trophy.

It can be said that Veeru-Gauti duo is one of the best in terms of stats. Before this series both have played 23 matches and have scored 1192 runs with an average of 52 and no other openers have scored with this average for India. The combo of Sunil Gavaskar and Srikkanth in 55 ODI have scored 1680 runs with an average of 31 and Srikkanth and Sidhu played 26 matches scored 900 runs for an average of 36. Though one can compare Sachin – Sourav combo with Veeru-Gauti duo, who in 176 ODI played scored 8227 runs with an average of 48. Sachin- Veeru too has opened the innings in 83 matches scoring 3073 runs for an average of 38. Veeru has opened with Sourav in 65 matches and scored 2606 runs with an average of 42.

Interestingly, the deadly combo of Veeru- Gauti from T-20 to Test, in every format of the game are displaying a superb which is making path easy for the team to win. This opening combo has washed away the biggest problems faced by the Indian side by giving a flying start to the team. Both the batsmen play according to their own style and mould themselves according to the situations. In Rajkot the English blowers too have felt the heat that came from the bats of both the strikers. They will have to destroy the opening line-up of the strong Indian batting order to win the matches and between all this Veeru- Gauti combo is standing like a strong wall and will be very hard to move...