The day is Friday, the date is 21 December, 2012. The world has ended and so have all the cricketers. There’s a long queue at the gates of heaven and God is having a torrid time attending to them. Of course there isn’t enough space for everyone in heaven and some have to be sorted out to be sent to rot in hell. He decides to ask everyone to introduce themselves. He starts with the bowlers…

Wasim Akram – I am Wasim Akram, the greatest of the Pakistani bowlers and the proponent of the reverse swing. I have the highest wickets in ODIs among pacers. I was the one who made swing the new sexy and got Paki cricket to the greatest of its heights, which was thrown from that same height later, but that’s not my fault. I was considered to have the greatest range of deliveries in my armoury and could bowl 6 different deliveries as well as same deliveries in an over.

Shane Warne – I am revered as the wizard of Oz. I am the greatest ever non-controversial spinner to have graced the game. My fingers have magic, which had the world’s greatest batsmen dance to their tune and it wasn’t for no reason that your most beautiful creation swooned over me. I am the second highest wicket taker in the longest format of the game and have turned many a game single-handedly. No wonder I was part of the most successful Australian team to play.

Muttiah Muralitharan – I am Murali, the highest wicket-taker in two of the oldest formats of the game. My presence was so eemphatic that the rules of the game had to be changed to accommodate my presence. Two decades of batsmen struggled to understand my bowling and when they did, I gave the game new innovations in bowling widely copied but never equalled. I was the one who got my once minnow-considered team, the place it deserved.

Glenn Mcgrath – I was called pigeon, and was the epitome of line, length and discipline. I was the one who made bowling an art, of which I was the greatest master. I showed the ravaging, war-monger line of bowlers what true class and sophistication were. I could get the scalps of the best batting line-ups on the worst kind of pitches for bowlers.

Brett Lee – Well, I am Brett Lee, and I got you out more number of times than any of these dudes out here.

GOD (Sachin Tendulkar- checking records)- As far as the records suggest, that seems true. Well, why don’t you come in and try doing that one more time.

The zen master of the modern cricket or the Nawab of Najafgarh, as he’s fondly known, has been the opener to a coming of age Indian team for over a decade, yet not many seem to be aware of his presence or rather absence of the pitch. It’s probably a blessing for him, that no one really expects more than say a quick-fire 20 or 30 every time he steps on to the pitch. Anything more is just out of the blue and deserves a celebration. So, is this unshakable loyalty a misplaced act of liberality or has he done something to earn his place in a country that doesn’t think twice before readying the hatchet to cut down the heads of even its greatest of heroes.

A simple look at the career profile of the batting hero tells you something’s different – the strike-rate. Though it is difficult to identify that now, let’s wind back to the time he started his career, in 2001, when the game was in a sort of evolution stage, at least in India, where the norm was still to protect your 3 pieces of wood (read wickets) with the help of your willow. Runs would come on as the game progressed. While the rest of the world had moved on with the likes of Gilchrist, Jayasuriya, Hayden waiting to take the leather off the ball as soon as they entered the arena (read stadium), the Indian team was undoubtedly at a loss. Yes, we had Tendulkar and then, well we had Tendulkar. Ganguly was an able partner and a great partner but not the sort of someone hungry for runs. In came Sehwag, who even till now has a strike rate of more than 100 in one-days with a not so bad average of about 35.

And on occasions when his willow has done the real talking, well, the opposition has but surrendered gleefully. There is always talk of Sachin as the one-man army, but who can forget the innings of Sehwag, the ones against Pakistan, both in test and in one-days, the hundreds against the Kiwis, and even the disgraceful 2003 world cup final against Australia, where he was perhaps the last man standing; the list goes on. Not only the runs, even his contributions with the ball have been life-saving at various junctures. It’s no wonder he is often compared with his own idol, Sachin Tendulkar.

Just how important a great start is, can be gauged from the fact that of his 14 centuries, 13 have been in a winning cause. With the footwork of an average lamp-post, it would really need some superb hand-eye coordination to achieve the feats that he has. With his frequent dismissals in the most bizarre fashions leaves one and all wishing he had some more sense and choice of shots, a faster functioning and ruling mind to call when to leave a ball alone and a few other minor changes such as not running after the best of bowlers. But, then, that’s what we call Sehwag, isn’t it?