Sunny wants Sehwag to keep opening
Sunil Gavaskar has urged Virender Sehwag to continue being an opener in the Twenty20 format and not slip down the order.
"If I was him, I would have continued to being an opener. I would have told myself: okay, I have done well in the Test and one-day format and now it's a challenge for me to crack the code in Twenty20 as well," stated Gavaskar in the team hotel where he had come for a promotional event.Sehwag recently in the IPL had stated his wish even though he remains the most destructive and successful opener in world cricket at present.
He has 5757 runs from 69 Tests at 50.06 average while in one-dayers, he has 6592 runs from 205 one-day internationals at 34.33 average. In Twenty20 though, he has 223 runs from 12 games and is yet to hit a hundred with 68 being his highest to date. His average too at 20.27 is disappointing.
Gavaskar has no doubt Sehwag should be opening for India at all times in all formats.
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"My choice of openers in this present tourney would be Gautam Gambhir and Sehwag. Both have a good rapport and are excellent. All the advantages are with Sehwag if he is to remain an opener: the bowlers are terrified of him and he has the advantage of field restriction too."
Even though Gavaskar's penny is on Sehwag to open the innings, the little master has a lot of time for his fellow Mumbai batsman Rohit Sharma. "If I were to bat in Twenty20 and emulate any batsman, it would be Rohit. He used to come down the order in the IPL and even against a climbing run-rate, along with tailenders, could score heavily," he said.
Rohit is set to take Sehwag's position as an opener in the team, a decision taken by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni who yesterday made a show of unity and strength in front of assembled media.
Dhoni did so because he was peeved at the reports in the media about his alleged rift with Virender Sehwag and thought he needed to take the bull by the horns. It was a move which hasn't upset Gavaskar a great deal.
"I remember to have done likewise once when I took most of my team to a newspaper's office in Bangalore over a report which didn't quite go down well with us. But now that he has done so, the team should leave this issue behind and prove their worth on the field of play." Gavaskar also rated India as favourites for the ICC World Twenty20 even though he termed the team as only 'marginal' favourites.
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