As if Virender Sehwag's batting strike-rate of 102 over a decade in one-day cricket wasn't enough to frighten bowlers, he has now set his sights on batting long during the World Cup. During his astonishing double-century against Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan in the Galle Test in 2008, Sehwag carried his bat but he is yet to bat out the full quota of overs in one-dayers, something he hopes to achieve.
"I think I never played 50 overs in one-day cricket, maximum I faced is 42-44 overs," a relaxed Sehwag said in Bangalore. "This time I'll try to bat 50 overs if I can. I have been trying for 10 years, I'm still trying." Emulating Sachin Tendulkar, who made the first and only double-century so far in the format when he played out 50 overs against South Africa last year, wasn't a target for Sehwag though. "Sachin has played 50 overs many times, not just once, but he could make 200 only once because it is not easy to make 200 in a one-dayer."
Nearly a third of Sehwag's innings have been single-digit efforts, a proportion he aims to reduce with a more measured approach early in the innings. "I have Yuvraj [Singh], MS Dhoni, [Suresh] Raina, [Virat] Kohli and Yusuf [Pathan] in the middle order, so I can go after the bowling straight from the first ball, but nowadays I'm a giving a little bit of respect for first 4-5 overs," he said. "Then I can take on the bowlers to make sure I give a good start so even if I get out the middle order can take their time and then go after the bowling."
This will be the first World Cup since Twenty20 become a big-money phenomenon, and Sehwag says the rise of cricket's newest format will mean teams batting first will have to set bigger targets to feel safe. "If you get a good batting track, 320 or 300 will be a par score in the World Cup," he said. "IPL changed a lot of batsmen's mindsets, because batsmen now think we can chase 10 run an over anytime. Before teams thought you have lost the game if they needed to chase 10 an over, but now with the power-hitters in the team, they will chase it and that will be very exciting to see in the World Cup"
Injuries and the team management's decision to rest him from some recent series has meant Sehwag goes into the World Cup not having played a one-dayer in more than five months. He missed the recent series against South Africa due to a shoulder problem, and though he is satisfied with his recovery, he is yet to start bowling. "I'm taking regular treatment, so hopefully it will be fine when the match comes," he said. "I don't want to bowl in the nets and get injured again, so when I feel my shoulder is better I can start bowling."
Shoulder trouble ruled Sehwag out of the past three global ICC tournaments - the Champions Trophy in 2009, and the previous two World Twenty20s - and India have had early exits in each of those, despite entering as title contenders. This World Cup, too, India are one of the front-runners. What lessons has the team learnt from past failures? "The only thing we learnt is that we are not favourites."
Siddarth Ravindran is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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