“There are two kinds of batsman in the world. First there is Sachin Tendulkar, and second all others”. This famous quote by the former Zimbabwe legend Andy Flower speaks volumes about Sachin Tendulkar and the amount of respect opposition players had for the ‘Little Master’.
Entering the international arena at a tender age of 16, Sachin Tendulkar made headlines ever since he was a kid. His record partnership for his school Shradhyashram Vidyamandir with his childhood friend Vinod Kambli is still etched in golden letters 28 years since. The partnership was the highest at any form of cricket for any wicket till very recently.
During the first phase of his career, Sachin was a dasher who used to dominate bowlers at will, spanking them all around the park. He was a nightmare for bowlers and it was more evident from the words spoken by the world’s greatest spinner Shane Warne.
He revealed having nightmares of Sachin dancing down the track and hitting him back over the head for a six. The tennis elbow injury did curb his natural instincts to a certain extent but he had new ways to dominate the bowlers. From a warrior at the battlefield, he evolved as a philosopher, who was just as deadly.
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He almost had each and every shot in the cricketing book up his sleeve but there were some certain shots which yielded him more runs than others. His trademark straight drive, flick and his leg glance were simply a class apart. Waqar Younis had said that Sachin could play the leg glance even with a walking stick in hand. Later on in his career, he played many more innovative shots and among them which stood apart was the improvised square cut and the upper cut.
Virender Sehwag made his Test debut against South Africa at Bloemfontein in the year 2001, almost 12 years after Sachin’s arrival and from his very first innings he looked a clone of the Master Blaster. His cover drives, punches and square cuts strikingly resembled that of the legend. Viru’s batting style, build and appearance were similar to that of Sachin and he acknowledged many times that he consciously wanted to model his batting style on Tendulkar’s, in his youth.
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His daredevil attitude set him apart from other greats. Despite zero footwork he was immensely successful at the Test level, more than ODIs. He revolutionised Test batting and is considered one of the greatest ever Test openers to have played the game.
Here we bring you five shots that Sachin and Sehwag almost executed in a similar fashion:
#1 Upper Cut
Sachin Tendulkar started playing this shot in the latter half of his career and had two kinds of upper cuts up his sleeve. One was when he slashed the ball over point for a six and the other he would simply guide the ball off a fast bowler over the slip cordons for a four or a six.
His slash over the point region against Shoaib Akhtar in the 2003 World Cup game at Durban is still fresh in everyone’s memory. The first time when I remember him executing the upper cut over the slip cordons was against Australia in Perth. The bowler was Brett Lee and he simply looked bemused with the shot that the master executed. He followed it up with two identical shots in the preceding tri-series against Mitchell Johnson.
Virender Sehwag is one such batsman who is known to pulverise any bowling attack on his given day and one shot which he seldom plays which yields him most number of runs is the upper cut. Though the execution is a bit different from Sachin’s, it is as effective. The slash over the point region has been the most productive area of scoring for Sehwag but it has also brought about his downfall.
The six off Waqar Younis in the 2003 World Cup was just out of the ordinary. With one hand out of the handle, he still managed to slash it over the point region for a monstrous six. Throughout his career, this shot has got better and better and he had also helped the ball over the slip cordon for a six on numerous occasions.
Pepsi’s “Change the Game” campaign for the 2011 ICC World Cup got the Sehwag special upper cut as a game-changing shot and named it the “Upar cut” which in Hindi means upper cut essentially.
#2 Cover Drive
There is perhaps not a single shot in the manual that Sachin Tendulkar doesn't have in his repertoire and the cover drive is one such productive shot which yielded a high percentage of runs for him during his illustrious career. The balance, the feet movement and the way the ball met the bat were simply mesmerising. It was minimum effort and maximum result.
There are numerous times when the master executed the shot to perfection and added to the woes of the bowlers. One such shot which stands out was the rollicking cover drive off Brett Lee in the 2003 World Cup. Bowlers from all over the world surrendered meekly against the audacious strokeplay of the Master Blaster.
The only difference between a cover drive from Sachin and Sehwag was that the former went to the line of the ball to meet the bat, while on the other hand, Sehwag used his natural instincts and hand-eye coordination to come out with the goods.
Throughout his career, there was no footwork involved in his batting whatsoever in his batting but his hand-eye coordination was unlike any other. To a certain extent, it was expected that he would hit a cover drive in the very first over he faced and on most occasions he didn’t disappoint.
#3 Square Cut
To go with his upper cut and cover drive Sachin had an exquisite square cut. Though it was not one among his signature shots, it brought him many runs in the international circuit. During his 24 years at the highest level, the sheer presence of him in the crease made oppositions tremble.
Everything was perfect the way he executed this shot and the ball would make a cracking sound and whistle past the point fielder for a boundary. In the 2011 World Cup final he showed glimpses of his class and his fierce square cut of Nuwan Kulasekara was one such example.
Virender Sehwag’s extraordinary hand-eye coordination made him execute this shot with an utmost will. The way he approached the game was totally different from others and it was quite evident from the way he played the square cut. He was perhaps the best exponent of the square cut during his career.
He would regularly square cut any outside the off stump and shorter trajectory delivery towards the point region and it would whistle past the fielder for a boundary. The square cut along with the slash over point was the two most productive shots during his entertaining career.
#4 Flick
You just had to attend a cricket match at the Wankhede Stadium to understand the meaning of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar and his farewell match was just a sheer example of how much people from Mumbai and India love him.
Age and a troublesome elbow dimmed the light a little during the latter half of his career but he was still a light-footed dancing genius, with his whipped flick remaining an object of wonder. The way he waited for the ball to meet his bat and just at the very end turned his wrists was soothing to the eyes. He was one of the best exponents of the flick shot.
The 2001 Test series against South Africa, in their backyard, marked the rise of Virender Sehwag and during his first innings, he looked like a clone of Sachin Tendulkar and the way he played the flick shot reminded many of the young Sachin.
His flick shot had a striking resemblance of Sachin’s in the way he met the ball and turned his wrists at the last second. Though it was not one of his signature shots as his career progressed, he could play the shot as good as his childhood idol.
#5 Hook / Pull
Before the start of the 2003 World Cup England speedster Andrew Caddick had told that after all Sachin is a human and he is bound to commit mistakes, but little did he know what was in store for him when they met each other in the World Cup game.
As Caddick bowled a short ball, Sachin had already read the mind of the bowler. He shuffled across the stumps and deposited the ball outside the Kingsmead stadium. Throughout his career, he didn’t play this particular shot too often but sometimes just to show his full repertoire he would unleash this shot.
During the ICC Knockout Trophy in 2000 it was Glenn McGrath who was decimated by the Master and his monstrous six towards the fine leg left McGrath lost for words.
Virender Sehwag, on the other hand, played the hook shot much more than the traditional pull. He would simply punish any short pitched balls towards the leg side boundary. In a bilateral series against South Africa in 2008, he hooked Shaun Pollock towards the deep square leg boundary for a gigantic six. The swashbuckling batsman from Najafgarh literally tormented bowling attack when he was batting and his extraordinary hand-eye coordination made him special.
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