The usual Australian finesse, with their bulwarks at the top lining a feast for the later ones to share, they put up a gigantic 359 on board. The score came only second to India's 373 which they scored against a febrile Sri Lanka in the last edition of the most coveted tournament in world cricket, the World Cup. 4 years of hardwork, and 4 years of restitution that ensues after sides concede defeats, culminates in another slugfest, another fray on the 22 yards. While the Australians, the English and the Kiwis might have other sports to resort to, the Asian subcontinent craves and preaches cricket like anything. At least till that time when the game was unsullied, it was extolled as a way of life.

The Aussie triumvirate was beaming with swing and seam and Indian batsmen were finding it hard to swallow the shells of the bullets. Astonishingly though, Sehwag held his ground and looked at the helm of his best. Just like he always says, playing his natural game! It seemed he was intrepid about what was going to come of the battle. He knew equally well how the odds were stacked against them but he thought why not go down with a fight. Kept hitting the 4's and the 6's and suddenly, commentators prognosticated rains. One idiosyncratic commentator even suggested India was at par if the D/L comes into play. Are you crazy, I thought! Suddenly everyone rhapsodized the idea of India winning through D/L courtesy of Sehwag's surreal attack.
Sadly, rains went away soon. The track got worsened in fact. Sehwag couldn't hit boundaries with that sheen anymore. He found a few partners but none of them could hold on. Irrespective of whom he had with him, we were always having enough overs in the bank as run rate was never a problem. In fact Sehwag is a stark contrast from conventional thinking of saving wickets. He takes the attack to the opposition. Hence as long as Sehwag was there, we Indians, smitten by the paradigm of a single hero decimating and effacing an entire army and a single Tendulkar having ripped off entire bowling attacks on his own, found a new hero to vest our faith in. "Match to gaya lagbhag lekin Sehwag jab tak hai, keh nahin sakte" was all that many were uttering. Renewed and restored hope since when we got Gilly and Hayden out just to see two new doyens replacing them. That hope was uncalled for and as uncanny as it can get. We knew what chasing down 359 means, we knew how accurate Aussies were with the ball and how our so called batting supremacy was lacerated. But still, that one guy, that valiant Sehwag, kept putting up a fight which he knew would go in vain. A lot of people ask me why is it I exalt him so much. It's not the usual fact that he holds the records for the highest score by an Indian in all formats and the highest score in an ODI ever, it was that innings, that flair of looking eagles right into their eyes and heading towards them, at a pace as unprecedented as it could get.
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Sehwag tipping it off his toes in the 03' WC final |
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