Betting on the right horse

UMPIRE'S POST

He's an unexpected passenger on the plane to Australia, but Sehwag is a potential Test asset.

There will be some passengers on the plane to Australia who, two weeks ago, were not seen as contenders. Ishant Sharma was hard to ignore after his five-wicket haul on Bangalore's lifeless pitch, even though he scalped one middle-order bat, one bowling all-rounder and three tail-enders. Rajasthan's Pankaj Singh will give hope to those toiling hard in the non-glamorous Ranji teams. Munaf has been rightly told to play more domestic cricket. Injuries to fast bowlers brought in Irfan Pathan.

However, the man-bites-dog element is provided, as ever so often, by Virender Sehwag, this time for being included despite not being in the list of 24 probables. The door opened for him when Gautam Gambhir was advised three weeks rest for a sore shoulder.

Statistics say there wasn't enough of a case for Sehwag. He returns to the Test team after the tour to South Africa. Since then, he has only played limited-overs international matches: Twenty20 and ODIs, with mixed success. In the Ranji Trophy, his last five innings have yielded 66 runs.

However, matches are not won or lost by statistics. Sehwag brings the X-factor to the team. He is a disruptive force, one of three batsmen any attack would fear, the other two being Jayasuriya and Hayden. Form is hardly a factor for him. He can follow a century with a duck and vice-versa. The important thing is that he can get centuries, big ones too. And when he gets them, India will be the dominant team in the match.

If you have to succeed in Australia, you have to show that you have no fear. Sehwag can do that better than anyone. His batting on the last tour, especially the 195 in Melbourne off 233 balls when he got out trying to reach his double hundred with a six, will help. That attack included Brett Lee, Australia's current spearhead. Australia's bouncy pitches do not assist swing, and that suits Sehwag's minimal footwork.

Even statistics are not against him. An average of just under 50 in 87 Test innings is Gavaskaresque, while his strike rate of over 75 is far superior.

The problem is that he would also disrupt the team composition. Yuvraj's Bangalore knock has made a strong case. But he can be in the team only as an opener, or if Dravid can be persuaded to open. Perhaps the solution lies in treating Sehwag as a batting all-rounder. Harbhajan is anyway not a great bet for Australia's pitches. Dinesh Karthik, for all his infectious enthusiasm, is not a Test opener.

To succeed in Australia, you have to roll the dice and take your chances. Sehwag is a chance worth taking.