Sehwag Ruled Out Of ICC T20 World Cup

Virendra Sehwag has been ruled out of the ICC World Twenty20 in England after failing to recover from a shoulder injury he sustained during the IPL in South Africa last month.
He will return to India after consulting specialists in England and will be replaced by Dinesh Karthik, who was in good touch during the IPL. Karthik, who last played a Twenty20 for India in January 2008, also doubles up as a reserve wicketkeeper, something the squad was lacking.
Sehwag said he picked up the injury during the IPL semi-final against the Deccan Chargers and he would show it to a specialist in London. "There is little I can do," Sehwag said.
A BCCI media release ended days of speculation over Sehwag's fitness - the opener has been a peripheral figure during Indian practice sessions. He wasn't present for India's optional training session on Monday at Lady Bay and didn't bat on the tour until Tuesday morning, often watching his team-mates go about their routines from the sidelines. The uncertainty over his injury led to reports of a rift between him and the captain MS Dhoni, which prompted the team to make a dramatic public show of unity and emphasise their team spirit through a statement read out by Dhoni.
Things weren't much clearer today, either, at the pre-match press conference - in fact the drama descended into farce. Dhoni refused to clarify the ambiguous situation, saying "anything related to fitness there will be a press release from the BCCI". Following repeated inquiries and flared tempers among the media, team manager Chamundeshwar Nath intervened to try and defuse the situation. However, he too stopped short of saying that Sehwag would indeed be returning home.
"If Sehwag has got pain in the hand, he might not bat," Nath said. "Today he tried and he was in some discomfort. Tomorrow, we will take a final decision on him. If he is not fit enough we will inform BCCI and they will issue a press release. How much pain Sehwag is having, Dhoni cannot answer when he is batting in the nets."
Minutes after that, the BCCI had issued a release ruling out Sehwag.
Under normal circumstances, the loss of Sehwag, a proven match-winner in any form of the game, would be a massive blow to India's strategy. While India's campaign will be weaker, they will benefit from Rohit Sharma, who has made the transition from middle-order batsmen to opener successfully in the three games in England so far. Rohit scored 31 and 80 in the warm-ups against New Zealand and Pakistan, and made 36 in India's first group match against Bangladesh at Trent Bridge.
Not having the bowler-destroying skills of Sehwag to call upon if needed, however, is a blow, as is the loss of his part-time offspin in a tournament that has seen the slower bowlers play a significant role. Sehwag sustained the grade one tear to his shoulder during the IPL and the coach Gary Kirsten said that he had been kept in the squad in the hope that he would not miss the entire tournament. "If a player of the caliber of Sehwag can be available for any part of the tournament, we want to keep him there." That however hasn't come to pass and India will have to hope that Rohit's good form at the top continues even against tougher opposition and more potent new-ball attacks.
That the injury to Sehwag was such a closely-guarded secret was perplexing. An injury is after all merely an injury and a more transparent dissemination of information from the team management would go a long way in diffusing the ambiguity and speculation that often surrounds the Indian team. Perhaps they could follow Ireland's example - moments before Dhoni addressed the media, William Porterfield had spoken at length about the injury to Niall O'Brien.

About Virendra Sehwag

Virender Sehwag {India}
Full name=Virender Sehwag
Born=October 20, 1978, Delhi
Current age=30 years 274 days
Major teams=India, Asia XI, Delhi, Delhi Daredevils, ICC World XI, India Blue, Leicestershire, Rajasthan Cricket Association President's XI
Batting style=Right-hand bat

Virender Sehwag is a primal talent whose rough edges make him all the more appealing. By the time he had scored his first centuries in one-day cricket (off 70 balls, against New Zealand) and Test cricket (on debut, against South Africa, from 68 for 4), he was already eliciting comparisons with his idol Sachin Tendulkar. It is half true. Like Tendulkar, he is short and square with curly hair, plays the straight drive, backfoot punch and whip off the hips identically, but leaves Tendulkar in the shade when it comes to audacity.
Asked to open the innings in Tests on the tour of England in 2002, Sehwag proved an instant hit, cracking an 80 and a 100 in the first two matches. Regularly thereafter, he kept conjuring pivotal innings at the top of the order, none as significant as India's first 300 (which he bought up, characteristically, with a six), at Multan against Pakistan in early 2004.
Sehwag bowls effective, loopy offspin, and is a reliable catcher in the slips. He also once almost split the cricket world: when he was banned for a match by the ICC referee Mike Denness on grounds of excessive appealing, the Indian board wasn't prepared to listen, and even played an unofficial Test with South Africa to prove a point. When a compromise was finally reached, Sehwag was back to his merry ways.
Though he continued to dominate in the Test arena, Sehwag's one-day form dipped alarmingly - after January 2004, he went through a period of 60 matches where he averaged under 29. Despite his fitness levels dropping and his one-day spot being under threat - he was dropped from the side for the home series against West Indies in early 2007 - Sehwag continued to sparkle in Tests, as shown by his magnificent 254 at Lahore. In June, he came excruciatingly close to scoring a century before lunch in the first day against West Indies in St Lucia, a feat never accomplished before by an Indian batsman.
After a string of poor scores, Sehwag was dropped from India's Test squad to Bangladesh in 2007, and was not considered for either the Test or ODI sides to England. He was a surprise pick for the Test team to tour Australia after not being named in the initial list of probables.
Sehwag had to wait for two matches before he made a strong comeback in the Perth Test, where he gave the innings' momentum with knocks of 29 and 43, and took two wickets with his offspin in Australia's second innings, to help India claim one of their greatest wins. He followed it up with scores of 63 and an imperious 151 - his first century in the team's second innings - to help India draw the Test in Adelaide. Then, in the first Test against South Africa in Chennai, he made an even more emphatic statement, rattling off the quickest triple-century in Test cricket, off just 278 balls. He eventually made 319 - the highest score by an Indian - and in the process became only the third batsman, after Don Bradman and Brian Lara, to pass 300 twice in Tests. In his next Test series against Sri Lanka in 2008, Sehwag thrived while the Indian middle-order struggled against the mystery spin of Ajantha Mendis. His double-hundred and half-century were instrumental in India winning the Galle Test.