Cricket: 'The Butcher' carves them up

In Napier Virender Sehwag's 77 in only 56 balls put India firmly in charge. Photo / Getty Images

Virendar Sehwag bats like a man happy to skip the starter and move straight to the main course.

Not for him the mundane matter of settling in, getting his bearings before filling his boots.

His first three balls on this New Zealand tour were dispatched into the stands in Christchurch.

Sehwag is exhilarating, unless you're the bowler, walking proof of the possibilities of what can be achieved with a particular mindset and when armed with special batting gifts.

And, as he's done more than once, his approach can rip a game away from the opposition in double quick time.

His approach had its genesis in Sehwag's formative cricket years when his approach was born of necessity.

"When I was growing up, I was playing a lot of 10 or 16 over cricket. If you were batting you had 10 overs, which is 60 balls to face, so you had to score on every ball.

"That's why my mindset is like that."

One quote attributed to the opener known as the Butcher of Najafgarh - for the rural suburb of Delhi he calls home - was that leaving the ball outside the off stump was "a waste of time".

"But now it's changing," he said when reminded of that line. "You saw in the last game, the first ball I left it."

Not that he left many that day in Napier when his 77 in only 56 balls put India firmly in charge of the opening ODI, and from which they never relinquished their grip.

New Zealand's bowlers gave him plenty of opportunities to leave the ball alone outside off that day, but he didn't let many go by.

"It depends on the wicket. I thought maybe it would move a little bit or have more bounce, so I just waited for my area. If it was short I could play my cut or pull shot."

Suffice to say he had plenty of chances to work on two of his most productive shots as New Zealand's bowlers produced a slipshod display.

When India last toured here six years ago, they were served up a diet of green, seaming pitches which they were ill-equipped to handle.

And their bowling attack was inferior to the group of men they have brought this time in terms of being able to take advantage of conditions like that.

Not that Sehwag has any complaints about the pitches seen so far on tour.

"This time the wickets are good. The ball is coming on to the bat nice, flat and hard. Last time here we didn't get this type of wicket, so I'm pretty happy."

Sehwag was one of the few Indian batsmen who handled the seam-friendly conditions in 2003, scoring two hundreds during the ODI series.

If you want a batsman to play an innings for your life, the 30-year-old dasher might not be your first choice.

But if you fancy thrilling shotmaking, of the stand-and-deliver style, he's your man.

When England set India a daunting 387 at Chennai to win the test three months ago, Sehwag's thunderous 83 off 68 balls sat England back and Sachin Tendulkar's subsequent century carried India to a remarkable win.

But tellingly, it was Sehwag who won man of the match award.

Just three batsman have scored over 300 in a test innings twice. Don Bradman, Brian Lara and Sehwag.

His 309 against Pakistan at Multan five years ago took only 375 balls.

Then at Chennai last year, he smeared South Africa's attack for 319 from just 304 balls. Even on a pitch designed to break bowlers' hearts, to maintain that strike rate for almost nine hours is a phenomenal feat of concentration and batsmanship.

And Sehwag yesterday spoke of a strong thread of confidence about India's prospects in New Zealand.

Fresh from hitting 273 for four off just 38 overs in Napier, Sehwag believes that rather than being a once-on-tour event, it could just be the start.

"We need to be careful at the beginning [of our innings]. If we are, then I am confident of scoring 300 in every [ODI] game," he said. "The grounds are small and the ball is not doing much."

Certainly if New Zealand's bowlers continue to serve the batsmen a buffet - help yourselves, chaps! - then Sehwag's prediction will not be as outlandish as it might sound.

Sehwag is 30 and in his prime. He's seeing the ball like a grapefruit. This could be a month to remember.