Gilly & Sehwag !

If one were to rank the most entertaining cricketers from the batch of contemporary
cricketers, Adam Gilchrist and Virender Sehwag would surely be ranked as the top two.

When Gilly and Sehwag are at the crease, it doesnt matter which format of the game they
are playing, the runs always keep flowing. Although the former is a southpaw and the latter
a right hander, both possess an uncanny resemblace when it comes to batting styles. Never
sparing a loose delivery, they haunt the nightmares of some of the fastest bowlers of today.These two have really made test cricket fun to watch. For the purists who object to their
reckless batting in tests - eat this - Gilchrist averages 1 century per 4 test matches,
whereas Sehwag is even better at 3.4 test matches for a hundred. Both average around 55, and
have single handedly changed the course of a lot of test matches. Who can forget Gilchrist
scoring a run a ball 146 while chasing Pakistans 369 at Hobart, coming to the crease at
126-5.

Both were drafted as purely one-day players - primarily due to their slam bang approach.
Gilchrist had a poor run batting at number 6-7 for Australia. But ever since he was promoted
to the top at a tri-series finals against SA, he has never looked back. He scored 100 off
104 balls in only his second innings as an opener. Sehwag too took his own time to cement
his place in the one-day side. But after his 70 ball 100 against the Anzacs at Lanka, he has
never looked back. Having played under the shadow of Tendulkar for a long time, off late
Sehwags career has actually blossomed even more than the ailing legend.

....And please dont forget that Gilly is an excellent wicket keeper, and Sehwag has
already shown his mettle as an off spinner. May their tribe increase !!

Sidenote from cricinfo.com "Since Australia are the benchmark – and in batting the Indians
ought to be meeting them eye-to-eye – it is instructive to note that when Matthew Hayden
makes a score (fifty or more, for the purpose of this exercise), those who follow him score
marginally faster than they would do had he fallen cheaply (at a rate of 3.79 against 3.75,
from September 2001 onwards). When Sehwag scores fifty or more, however, the rest of the
Indian line-up make their runs discernibly slower (2.96 against 3.15, in matches where
Sehwag has opened) than they otherwise would. So where Australia are taking a man's success and building on it, feeding off it – the cornerstone of their cricket in general – India are using it, bizarrely, as an occasion to play inside their abilities."