If a cricket historian twenty years from now were to glance at the score-card for the Chennai Test, 2008, it would take a bit for him to understand that why was Virender Sehwag chosen as Man of the Match for an inning of 83 despite Andrew Strauss two centuries in the match and Sachin's unbeaten match winning century in the fourth inning.
India v England, First test, Chennai, 2008.
It was a test which made England Captain Kevin Pietersen swallow the most bitter pill of his life.
It was a test held a month after Mumbai attack. Indian cricket fans needed a reason, no matter how little it was, to smile about.
On 11 December, 2008, Peterson won the toss and decided to bat.
Andrew Strauss showed how good he was against spin. He scored 123 as England made 316.
In a reply, Indian top order showed no resistance at all and they were reeling on 137 for 6 before a partnership between the captain Dhoni and Bhajji helped their team to reach to a respectable score of 241.
England was on top with a handy lead of 75. Andrew Strauss was unstoppable again in the 2nd inning. Paul Collingwood came on the top of his game too and they both defied everything Indian spinners threw at them. Both made 108.
They both batted together for 73 overs and chips looked down for Team India. When Strauss got out, the score was 257–4.
With one and half days to go in the match, a declaration from Peterson was the going to be the most vital decision of the match.
He waited more and more.
At 311–9, two hours left in the fourth day of play, Kevin Peterson called it off.
India got a target of 387 to chase in a fourth inning. A huge ask for any side in the world.
Let me remind you all that the highest score chased in the fourth innings to win a match in India was 276, by the West Indies in Delhi in 1987.
In Chennai, India's 155 for 8 in the third Test against Australia in 2001 remained the highest.
As the history suggested, it looked like a win for England already. A few Cricket experts, specially Englishmen, were a bit disappointed about the late declaration. They thought that Indian batsmen might pull off a draw from here if batted cautiously.
History was indeed a witness that even a draw from there would be a great escape for Team India.
But there was a man, to whom history didn't matter. Situation of the game didn't matter. Condition of the pitch didn't matter. Quality of the opposition didn't matter. What mattered the most for him was the faith in himself — The name is Virender Sehwag.
On the eve of 14th December 2008, Sehwag and Gambhir walked out there in the middle with a humongous task on their heads. They had 29 overs to see through the fourth day.
In the very first over of Anderson, Sehwag cracked two boundaries. The message from him was very clear, no blocking marathon for earning a draw.
He had decided to go for it.
Under the fading light on fourth day of the play, in a fourth inning of a test match, amidst the pressure of saving the match, against bowlers like Anderson, Harmison , Panesar and Swann, India's score reached 80 in just 10 overs with Sehwag on 61 off 39 balls.
That’s what Sehwag was capable of.
Look at this image. Just a Virender Sehwag kind of scenario.
(What a player he was!)
When he got out, India was 117 in 23 overs.
83 runs, 68 balls, 11 fours, 4 sixes.
It was kind of an inning which left the opposition clueless. They were horrified. They couldn't understand what was going on.
Pietersen couldn't have imagined that he would end up in a situation like this. He had happily declared the inning to wrap up the match, but just an hour later every bit of his happiness looked fading away.
He was like, ‘how could someone play like this when situation and condition of the game demnaded otherwise?’
They couldn't even smile when Sehwag got out. They were too horrified to celebrate.
By the time he got out, he had set a motion to an extraordinary run chase.
The next day, with a required run rate around 2.7, Sachin's century and Yuvi half century, India pulled off the highest chase ever on their own turf which would have been inconceivable without Sehwag's inning.
Despite Strauss's two epic centuries and Sachin's absolute masterclass in the fourth inning, Sehwag's 83 was voted for the Man of the match award.
The fact that he had scored big hundreds in quick time all over the world wasn’t enough to persuade the pundits. They thought that Sehwag’s big scores didn’t often lead to Indian victories. That day every doubt was put to bed. That day every sceptic was silenced. All it took was an inning of just 68 balls.
