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Advice from former stalwarts helped me get over concerns about footwork: Virender Sehwag
See ball-hit-ball’ was too simplistic and perhaps even a lazy explanation to decode the phenomenon of Virender Sehwag as a batsman. Time and again, through the course of his 14-year international career, he elevated this process into an intricate art form. Much of his success could be attributed to superb hand-eye coordination.
Nevertheless, such a technique was fraught with inherent pitfalls, primarily because of his limited footwork.
As Sehwag made the seamless progression from age-group cricket to eventually cementing his status as one of the most destructive openers in international cricket, coaches and seniors would keep reminding him about that one particular flaw in his game. “There were many experts and cricketers in my early years of international cricket who used to point out my lack of foot movement, but none had any plausible suggestions to rectify it,” the 42-year-old reminisced during the launch of Cricuru, an experiential learning app aimed at redefining cricket coaching in the country.
After spending considerable time trying to alter what he perceived as a fundamental weakness in his batting, interactions with three former India players – namely Tiger Pataudi, Sunil Gavaskar, and Kris Srikkanth helped him allay his fears.
“They told me that rather than thinking about my footwork, I should start batting on middle or off-stump instead of taking my stance on leg stump. That helped me come closer to the ball. It improved my game, and credit goes to them,” Sehwag recollected.
