Virender Sehwag: Attempting the impossible, regularly

I remember reading Rajan Bala on Sunil Gavaskar's epic 221 against England at the Oval in 1979. Set an improbable 438 to win, Sunny's monumental effort took India to within 9 runs of the target. Unfortunately, he got run out and the other batsmen weren't quite up to the task. Bala feels that Sunny produced that innings in order to prove a point. That he was the only batsman in India at that time who could do the impossible. Watching Virender Sehwag become only the 3rd batsman in history to produce two Test triple centuries, Bala's words rang clear in my mind.
Yes, we do have the Greatest Batting Line-Up In The WorldTM. We have a guy who has the most international runs and the most international hundreds. We have the most successful No. 3 batsman in the history of the game. We have two sublime artists who can bring tears to your eyes as they effortlessly transcend technique while weaving their magic, one on the off side, the other on the on. But wait a minute. Which of these guys would try to hit a six when batting on 95, then again on 99, then again on 193, then again on 291, then again . . . Nobody. Nobody apart from Virender Sehwag.
Even in this pack of shining gladiators, he is the only one who can perform the most impossible feats with outrageous regularity. His last 10 Test tons have all been in excess of 150, a record. And yet we dare to drop the man, in a year in which he averaged almost 40 in Tests.
In fact, India as a country has never quite understood the man. Its not hard to understand why. As a culture, we are risk averse. Right from childhood, we are taught to be 'on the safe side'. We grow up and choose 'safe and secure' professions like engineering, management and medicine. Safety and security matter more to us than risk and adventure. No wonder we have the one of the highest household savings rates in the world. That is why, when an adventurer like Sehwag comes along, we are thrilled to watch him, for he can effortlessly do what we cannot even dare to think about. But because he is so different, he is also criticised easily. I remember at Melbourne in 2003, he got out on 195 at the fag end of the day. How? Trying to hit a six to get to his double. The next day, India were shot out for 366, when it could have been much more. I recall how the experts had hammered Sehwag, calling him irresponsible and such other names. Hello! Wait a minute! Hadn't he got 195 out of a total of 366 playing in that risk-taking manner? Was it his fault that the middle order caved in? Lets give the man his due. You love it when his square drive screams just past the desperately diving point fielder. You love it when he daringly upper cuts for a six despite there being a third man in place for precisely that kind of shot. So why grudge the man when he falls going for another one of those spectacular shots? Not that it matters to Sehwag, though. He cannot understand the fuss people make about his style of playing. To him, risk taking comes naturally. Thats how he grew up playing. Thats what got him into the Indian team. Thats how he'll always play, no matter what the situation. And thats what is so exciting to watch! Amidst all the hoopla over laptops and analysis and 'process', cricket still remains a game between bat and ball. So lets enjoy it that way. Like Viru puts it, "If ball is there to hit, I will hit it". Hit it Viru! Hit it out of the ground! Hit it in the air! Exasperate those purists, over and over again.