Team India back beleaguered Sehwag

England persevered with Andrew Flintoff, and India will persevere with Virender Sehwag © AFP

From being the toast of the country for becoming the first Indian to score a Test triple-century, Virender Sehwag has been brought back down to earth with a string of below-par performances in one-day cricket. Now we know why they say that six months is a long time in Indian cricket.

Had an opening batsman failed in such a manner a few years ago, his house may have been tarred, and his car stoned. And a different coach might have put him out to pasture after doing his best to revitalise his game with a sharp word or two. But this Indian team works differently. John Wright, the coach, and Sourav Ganguly, the captain, have backed their players to the hilt.

Just as it has taken England more than five years of investment to turn Andrew Flintoff from a lad with 'potential' to a potent strike force, this team has put their not-inconsiderable weight behind the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif. Now, it appears, they're prepared to do the same with Sehwag.

It is not as though the team has not taken note of Sehwag's increasing frustration. Ganguly said that the Indians did have a chat with Sehwag. "We have spoken to him. You have to understand that he's a strokemaker," said Ganguly. "But he scores runs in Test cricket all around the world. It's not fair to ask him to just go and defend, or leave balls outside the off stump. That's not the way he plays and that's not the way he has scored all his runs. He should probably bat the way he does in Test cricket. He should look to play the ball on merit rather than just trying to get the maximum runs straight away and accelerate."

The opening slot is still the place for Sehwag. The team's decision to give Sehwag a go in the middle order was only a window of respite. The move did not quite have the desired effect, and India are moving Sehwag back to his original place. "He's been opening all the time and he's been exposed to the new ball and its not gone his way recently. Sometimes it helps if he can sit with his pads on and watch the play for a bit," explained Ganguly. "It just changed the system which he has been going through for quite some time. The shine would go away a bit and the ball would get older by the time he came in to bat. The main bowlers would have finished 5-6 overs, whether it was Harmison or Gough. It was just a bit of a change for him so he could get runs, get his confidence back and get back to opening."

In the last three matches that Sehwag has played, he has found different ways to get himself out. At Trent Bridge he spooned Darren Gough to Michael Vaughan. At The Oval match he was late on the ball, and his lack of footwork caught him plumb in front of the stumps. In the final match, which India won at Lord's, Sehwag dropped down to the middle order, but made just one run before popping a simple return catch to Ashley Giles. His scores were 4, 0 and 1, the cause of fierce media criticism being directed his way. At the moment, though, the Indian team are keeping the faith with his flashing blade.