Sehwag makes promising county (U.K.) debut

[sanjaychhikara]

As I informed before sehwag is in england and has made his debut there. here is that article

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Sehwag makes promising county debut
Press Trust of India
London, May 5

India's dashing opener Virender Sehwag had a promising start in his debut county season but was unable to post a big score for his team Leicestershire who lost to defending champions Glamorgan by 44 runs.
Barely six hours after flying into Heathrow from Delhi yesterday, Sehwag showed glimpses of his talent as he scored a sparkling 23, with four boundaries from crisp cuts and cover drives from 33 balls.

Glamorgan swept to 249 for five, the vigorous postscript being an unbroken partnership of 59 in 32 balls between David Hemp and Mark Wallace off the bowling of David Masters and Jeremy Snape.

Hemp made 83 not out with nine fours and a six from 96 balls, while Wallace super-imposed his brief batting display with four catches at the wicket as Leicestershire were dismissed for 205, despite a valiant half-century from Darren Maddy (80).

Sehwag's signing has already paid dividends, however, with the club reporting a surge in interest and support from the Asian community.

The 24-year-old with a strike rate of almost a run a ball in limited-overs internationals struck the ball so sweetly but, after Andrew Davies hit him on the toe, he found deep mid-off with another elegant but slightly mistimed stroke, possibly the result of jet lag.

There will be little time for respite for the Indian. Sehwag was off to Bristol last night for another National League game and then goes to the other end of the country, Jesmond, for Wednesday's Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy tie.

Result: Glamorgan (4pts) beat Leicestershire by 44 runs.
Glamorgan: 249 for 5 wkts in 45 overs (D L Hemp 83 not out, M J Powell 40, M P Maynard run out 43.
Leicestershire all out 205 (41.3 overs) (D L Maddy 80, V Sehwag 23, D I Stevens 22 J N Snape 20).


http://www.htcricket.com/htcricket/14_246929.htm

[deepika]

hey!dunno abt. cricket so much but i guess u r right!!!!!!!!!keep on wrinting and expressing yur views...good job

[akdabas]

Sehwag bhee kati ND JAT sei. Circket kee ball te us bhai ne football deekhe se......

I wish him all big successes in his career.

Good information Sanjay Bhai.

[sanjaychhikara]

The "Sehwag Effect" is sweeping England.

Within two weeks of joining Leicestershire, Virender Sehwag has made a massive impact on and off the field, boosting club membership, luring many passive cricket fans amongst the large Asian population to the venues with his cavalier batting. He is also hogging headlines.

This is despite the fact that the 24-year-old has just hit two half-centuries in six innings, including a 70-ball 54 (6x4s) that helped Leicestershire beat Yorkshire by 66 runs in a National League game at Grace Road.

Earlier, Sehwag, who has played 14 Tests and 73 one-day internationals, had scored an 84-ball 81 (15x4s) in a drawn game against Yorkshire in the division one Frizzell County Championship.

The Indian has provided the British media with something refreshingly positive to write about following a miserable performance by Nasser Hussain's team at the February-March World Cup, where England crashed out in the first round.

Moreover, Leicestershire's financial condition is set to improve as the club membership has gone up with Sehwag's arrival.

The Indian has brought an air of excitement amongst the large expatriate population, with familiar Indian expressions being used in cricketing circles.

"I hope Sehwag changes Leicestershire cricket for ever," Damesh Lakhani, who runs Bobby's Restaurant in Belgrave, was quoted as saying in a special feature published by the Guardian.

And, as if to capture the changing mood among the local Asian population, Lakhani told writer David Hopps: "It's not all about tea and crumpets. It's time to bring on the samosas and the bhajis."

Sehwag, say some, seems to have been the best thing to happen to the 2003 English County season.

So much so that the best of British cricket writers, while showering accolades on the simple boy from the Najafgarh suburb of Delhi, have invariably given him prominence in their reports even when the Indian has failed with the bat.

The "Sehwag Effect", "resplendent", and "bewitching batting" are only some of the adjectives used to describe the batsman and his style by leading newspapers like the Times, Guardian and Telegraph.

Even before Sehwag landed at Heathrow on May 4, the British cricket writers were excited in anticipation. It seemed as if it was not Sehwag but Sachin Tendulkar, with whom his batting is often compared, was going to represent Leicestershire.

It will be interesting to find out who consumed more reams of British newsprint at the end of the current season in September - Sehwag or Tendulkar, who played for Yorkshire in 1992.

In is quite apparent that headline writers are trying to push Sehwag's name to top wherever and whenever possible.

Sehwag, who was taking guard within six hours of reaching England, is beginning to find his feet after his initial cameos in a season in which Leicestershire completely overhauled its cricket set-up.

"He won't just dominate one-day cricket," Leicestershire coach Phil Whitticase had predicted in April. "And we're not just signing him as a batter - he wants to come over to bowl his off-breaks," he told the Telegraph.

Sehwag has, however, hardly bowled so far, capturing just one wicket. But new captain Philip de Freitas will most probably give him a longer bowl next month when the sun will hopefully be brighter and pitches will be drier.

And when the sun shows brightly, Sehwag loves to play his shots on both sides of the wicket.

June will also be the month when the revolutionary Twenty Cup in introduced, replacing the Benson & Hedges Cup.

Since Sehwag is a natural hitter of the ball, Leicestershire will be expecting that the right-hander will be its biggest asset in this 20-over-per-side format matches that will be played under floodlights.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/htcricket/14_257105.htm