Sehwag and Bagger Vance

Some years ago, a book came out which I am sure some of you must have read. It was called “The Legend of Bagger Vance”. Published in the cusp of the millennium, it caught the fancy of the Californian crowd I used to see a lot of in those days. Everything was booming and people were getting wealthy on exceptionally generous stock option grants.

Given all this, naturally the thought would turn to “What does it all mean” – the money, the condo, the hot car, the hot babe…And this is when the book captured the minds of the West Coast tech crowd. Quite simply, the book placed the “Gitopadesa” in a golf course. Gitopadesa – the part of the Mahabharata where Arjuna drives his war-chariot up before the vast armies arrayed before him – his uncles, cousins, relatives and friends. Looking at all these familiar faces, and confused as to why at all the coming carnage was needed, he is filled with self-doubt and asks his charioteer, Krishna, for an explanation. A young golfer, A R Junah, is coached by his caddy, Bagger Vance, on the nuances of the perfect swing. Every man has a perfect swing inside him, says Bagger, and all he has to do is to look inside of himself to find it. It cannot be taught, it cannot be coached, says the wise caddy. Execute the swing, says Bagger Vance, and do not worry about the ball.

I thought of this when I read this post while following what was happening in the second Test being played at Eden Gardens between India and South Africa. There seemed to be two games going on in a curious multiverse. I refer to the batting of Virender Sehwag.

For a long time now, Sehwag has attracted opprobrium from the purists. No footwork, they say. Plays away from the body, they say. Susceptible to the ball coming in off a length, they say. Does not tailor his game to the situation. And so on.

In the meantime, he has one of the highest averages in Test cricket, and bowlers fear him. When he is playing, he seems to be in a different zone. So why Sehwag and why Bagger Vance?

The clue is his mindset. Apparently Sehwag never goes in to inspect the pitch before the game, trying to work out how the pitch will play – even though he opens batting for India. He never thinks about the next day before he goes to bed. No smelly caps or unwashed handkerchiefs in his pocket.

What he does is, keeps his head rock still, watches the ball, and lets his instincts take over. If he is beaten all ends up by one ball, he just waits for the next one, and regardless of bowler, if it can be hit, he hits it. It does not matter that he is batting on 194 at the SCG and he is out sky-ing the ball attempting a six.

My theory is that watching a Sehwag bat is cricket’s answer to Gitopadesa in a golf-course. No thought enters his mind, no doubt creeps in. All he wants to do is wait for the right ball and murder it. He is not worried about the scoreline, the situation, the state of the pitch. I bet he does not even listen to the sledging. Never has Sehwag been caught exchanging verbals with the opposition. No way.

He just waits for the ball and whacks it, still head, eye on the ball, confident, and bereft of doubt.