He saved the day for India and his family watched, whooping, screaming, but not quite surprised.
While the son was blazing guns at the SSC stadium in Colombo on Thursday, as he made the mighty Kiwis not look like one, Virender Sehwag’s family at Najafgarh in Delhi, 2444 km away, was glued to the smallscreen, watching their son enter the class of Harbhajan “Turbanator” Singh and Yuvraj Singh.
“It was not unexpected,” said brother Vinod who has been closely following his brother’s performance with the willow on Lanka soil.
However, “We knew he had it in him and it was for this moment we were waiting for.”
“I saw yesterday’s match too and when he got a duck, I was sure he would score a big one today. When Virender spoke to me on phone yesterday (Wednesday), even he said he was looking forward to today’s match.”
For mother Krishna, it was christening into the world cricket, literally. Not much into cricket like the rest of the family, Thursday was another day when even she watched her son on the television. And not with little wonder. Lot of it.
Because, Krishna saw her son walk into cricketing history books with a shower of 19 fours and a six, hammering into the Kiwis attack.
Virender, the elder of the two brothers among four Sehwag siblings, has earned all the praises and pride from his dear ones. And rightly so. “We were so happy to see bhaiya play. He was amazing,” said elder sister bubbling with pride at her brother’s achievement.
For the younger sister too, it’s a reason to be “overjoyed” as she attends the guests who’ve come home to congratulate the family. As soon as the news of Virender Sehwag’s feat spread in the neighbourhood, those who knew the family, even those who didn’t, poured in to be a part of the celebrations.
According to Virender’s childhood friend Dharmesh: “It is one of his best innings. Right from the start, Virender was destined to be a great cricketer. I have never missed his matches.”
As an afterthought, Dharmesh adds: “It’s a bit disappointing that the Board (Board of Cricket Control of India) has not chosen him for the Test. It is now only to be seen where he goes from here.”
What Delhi lad Virender can really crown this glorious moment is with the fact that those who watched his performance with the willow that he “resembled every bit the master blaster Sachin Tendulkar”.
This has also given birth to a question: "Will Virender be a threat to India’s best opening partnership pair of Tendulkar and Ganguly?
His fluent stroke, play by the book, was a lesson on how to judge the gaps and time the ball as beautifully as he did.
His immaculate timing and fluent stroke play all around the ground had the Kiwis scurrying for shelter. Whatever the speculations be, for now, the Sehwags are not taking time off from their celebratory mood. Virender’s father, Krishan, has is eyes set on phone, eagerly waiting for the son’s call from Colombo.