Sriram Balasubramanian

The brilliant 219 by Virender Sehwag a couple of days back mesmerized everyone. People across generations were unanimous in their thoughts that Sehwag is probably the most destructive batsman that the world has seen after the great Sir Viv Richards. There was something that caught my eye; unanimity was mostly in praising his talent for the game. While I agreed with the appreciation for talent, I could not help but realize how much attitude is under appreciated in comparison with talent for the game.

One of the most decorated terms used to describe Sehwag’s batting is his hand eye coordination. The ability to pick the ball so early that he is ready to pounce on the shot once the ball is bowled. There is no denying the hand eye coordination theory but this is not something that happens at gods will every single time. There has to be a systematic toil behind this in order to nurture this hand eye coordination. Hours and hours of hardwork would have been put in the nets to enhance and nurture this hand eye coordination within him. In a career spanning such a long time, the hardwork behind nurturing the talent is the key; this facet of his attitude is often understated. The perfect complement to this is his aggressive approach.

Aggression and Sehwag are twins or that’s what they say. An aggressive attitude is something that he has maintained right through his career. Anytime he is in the crease, his strike rate is over 100 and in this year’s IPL it was the first time in almost his career that someone had bowled a maiden over to him. In addition, if one carefully notices, his shots are never brash ones. His shots are aggressive yes but not brash, the ball in most cases goes through the middle of the bat. Its not like a Afridi who goes boom boom with top edges all around. Being aggressive in the initial stages of a career is normal but continuing that over a longer period of time is admirable. Sehwag’s rigid approach to aggression (instead of evolving himself into a more solid player) has affected him in numerous ways especially during bad patches in form. It has been touted as one of his biggest drawbacks but therein lies also his biggest strength; his strength to be his own natural intrinsic self. He decided to stick to his approach come what may and played the way he wanted to play right through his career till date. This aggressive attitude has transcended even to Test cricket where he has a stupendous average of over 52 opening the innings for India in 92 test matches. To excel in test cricket at the highest level for such a long period of time requires immense amount of aggression, determination and patience, not just talent.

Every Indian star (I mean true stars like Sachin, Dravid, Dada etc) has a certain pedigree of attitude towards their game. In terms of their approach, in terms of their work ethic and in terms of their planning for games; they have a sense of understanding of the essence of their durability in the game. This aspect about their personality more often than not rarely comes outside and it is not appreciated as much as their outer persona. On the contrary, their glorified outer persona comes through to us due to how they are projected.

It is indeed true that players like Sehwag have immense talent. It is also true that in the case of naturally gifted players like Sehwag talent plays a crucial role. It is also true that the foundation for this talent to succeed is a robust attitude that keeps pushing them forward.Talent can take you upto a level, it can give you the initial breaks but to have that longevity it has to be the attitude that thumps the talent.

Even for someone as artistic and natural like Virendar Sehwag, its not all about talent, it is also about the attitude that has got him thus far.

Don’t you think so?

Bottom Line: Irrespective of the talent, the attitude to nurture the talent is in most cases the key to success

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