A 21-year-old Virender Sehwag came to bat in the middle-order in Mohali to face the deadly Pakistani bowling attack.
Out! He went back after scoring only one run.
That debut was a nightmare.
The selectors were not impressed. Sehwag wasn’t picked in the team for a year.
December 2000
A better-equipped Sehwag was now recalled for the Zimbabwe series at home as a middle-order batsman. He scored only 19 runs.
Not very impressive.
The selectors were disappointed. Sehwag was dropped again.
“Select that guy for only 1 match against Australia. Let’s see what he does,” Ganguly sent a message to the selectors.
March 2001
The selectors considered Ganguly’s words.
Australia toured India. This Indian batting line-up had stars, not cricketers. Ganguly and Sachin opened, followed by Laxman and Dravid. Barring Ganguly, the rest made decent scores.
You know who made the headlines? Sehwag who came in 6th position. He scored 58(54).
“Let’s give him more chances,” Ganguly informed the selectors.
June 2001
Sehwag was selected for his first overseas tour as a middle-order batsman.
DISASTER!
His performances were disastrous. A majority were single-digit scores. He might have averaged less than 7 in 6 matches.
Ganguly had to face the ire of the coach and the selectors after every match.
“What is wrong with you? That guy doesn’t know how to approach the innings, has little match awareness and plays risky shots”, Ganguly was asked this after every match.
Ganguly always said, “Please wait.”
One day, ahead of a match against New Zealand, Ganguly walked up to Sehwag. Ganguly said, “You will open the innings today”. Sehwag replied, “No Dada. You know my style, it is more suited for the middle-order.” Ganguly responded, “I’m not asking you, I’m informing you.”
Sehwag opened the innings that day. He scored a slow-paced 33 runs.
The selectors again started bashing Ganguly. Ganguly didn’t respond now.
Two disappointing performances from Sehwag followed. Ganguly didn’t utter a word.
Sehwag scored a quick-paced century in the next match. Ganguly smiled.
He now started putting up consistent performances.
Sehwag then cemented his position as an opener for the Indian team and now is said to be one of the greatest openers this country has seen.
That’s the difference between Ganguly and other captains. Other captains made plans to win the match, but Ganguly made plans for the next few years instead.
Ganguly always played the long game, the game of patience, and this game changed the career of Virender Sehwag.