Virender Sehwag's century ends speculation

There wasn't an iota of doubt that Virender Sehwag's form coming into the Ranji Trophy opener against Uttar Pradesh was patchy. His struggles in the Test arena since the hurried comeback from a shoulder injury against England at Edgbaston in July 2011 have been well documented.

In between, he has sparkled on the odd occasion, including a one-day international world record score of 219 against West Indies at Indore in December 2011. There was also some swashbuckling strokeplay in the Indian Premier League this year. However, in the Test arena, he hasn't been anywhere close to the lofty standards that saw him score 22 Test centuries, the last of which came exactly two years ago, against New Zealand at Nagpur in November 2010.

A few questions were raised when he failed in the first innings against Uttar Pradesh. A scratchy innings of 25 saw him completely at sea against the swing bowling of Praveen Kumar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar on a fresh pitch that offered a lot of lateral movement. One could also sense signs of frustration from within. There was a cry of anguish every time he was beaten, but the worrying sign was that he played down the wrong line on quite a few occasions.

The next day saw him confined to the dressing room for a majority of the day after injuring his finger while trying to take a catch at first slip. He didn't come out to open with Gautam Gambhir in Delhi's second innings. He finally emerged at No. 6, much to the delight and relief of everyone concerned.

Delhi were still trailing UP by 22 runs with six wickets in hand. They were precariously placed, and knew that at best they could just squeeze out one point by batting out four sessions to save the game. It was not something you would expect Sehwag to do, given that aggression has been the hallmark of his career.

He remained unbeaten on 21 overnight, with Delhi just managing to wipe out the deficit. The early winter haze has meant that the first session has always seen assistance for the bowlers, but when Sehwag walked out on the final morning, he was a man on a mission.

For a majority of the first session, the focus was on survival. There were flashes of impatience, especially against the left-arm spin of Ali Murtaza, who tried to induce him to play the big shot by tossing the ball up over the eye line. Sehwag did step out on a couple of occasions, but the ball was met with a dead bat.

It wasn't a flawless innings by any means. He was fortunate to receive a lease of life on 70, when Suresh Raina fluffed a chance at first slip, but it was his resolve to stay clear of risk that was the highlight of his knock.

The period from 80 to 100 runs can be a slow passage for some. Not for Sehwag though. Once he approached his hundred, there were the typical elements. A couple of fierce cuts and a boundary through third man off three consecutive deliveries took him from 83 to 95, and then a rasping straight drive in the next over took him to 99.

The celebration after getting to the hundred wasn't about proving a point to either the selectors or his critics. It was a simple gesture - a look up to the heavens, a raise of his bat to the crowd's applause and to the dressing room, and then the punch on the gloves of his partner at the other end. He was dismissed for 107, shortly after lunch, but not before he had made his statement.

There is no place for ifs and buts in sport. No one will ever know what would have been had Sehwag failed in the match. A lot of theories could have cropped up, and questions raised about his form and fitness. In the end though, it was a simple case of Sehwag letting his bat do the talking, burying all speculation in the process.