Ponting answers Sehwag

Indians, more than anyone else, should know the dangers of pulling a tiger by the tail. It's predictable the reaction will be savage.

There’s a lot to like about Virender Sehwag. He seems to be someone who plays instinctively and with wonderful timing. He doesn’t seem overly weighed down by the pressures of being an Indian cricketer, revered (and sometimes reviled) by millions. His inflammatory comments about the 2008 Sydney Test may have been instinctive but for once, his timing let him down.

I say that for purely pragmatic reasons. I’m not going to debate that fateful Test because the wounds are still raw on all sides and I don;t see any point in exhuming that corpse. Which is why I’m surprised that Sehwag picked this week to prise open that coffin.

Anyone who thinks these mind games upset Australian cricketers, especially someone like Ricky Ponting, has not done their homework. Ponting is a good enough player without providing him with any extra motivation. Sehwag’s ill-timed barb virtually guaranteed Ponting would do what Aussies do best - grit their teeth and prove a point.

It’s hard to believe Sehwag didn’t stop to think about everything he has learned over the years about Australians in general and Ponting in particular. To make it to the top, they have learned to be incredibly mentally tough and resilient. They thrive on proving people wrong. Club cricket, even at junior level, is based on that culture. If you don’t survive that constant pressure, you simply don’t make it to the top. Simple as that.

Australians deliberately use that strategy for self-motivation. The famous story about Allan Border and Dean Jones in the Tied Test of 1986 is a classic example. Border goaded Jones into playing one of the most courageous innings in cricket history by telling him that if he wasn’t tough enough, he’d get a Queenslander (Greg Ritchie) to bat instead.

Even in his anger, Jones knew exactly why Border had made that comment and yet, he couldn’t help but prove his own captain wrong. Even though he adored Border. Even if it almost cost him his life. That’s so typical of the way Australian sport is played. It’s the easiest psychological trick in the book.

Border himself often used that weapon on himself. He often tells of instances when he would deliberately provoke a confrontation in order to get embroiled in a battle that helped him raise his game. It was a well known fact that if you wanted to get him cheaply, you didn’t sledge him.

I remember batting with him in an A-Grade club match. He was batting fairly loosely until a brash young fast bowler mouthed off at him and questioned his courage. Bad move – the transformation was instantaneous and AB even threatened me with dire consequences if I threw my wicket away. I saw a lazy pussycat become a snarling tiger in front of my eyes.

That’s why it’s difficult to understand what Sehwag was trying to achieve. It was exactly what Ponting and his team wanted to hear. Coming on top of his much celebrated poor record in India, this was all Ponting needed to seal the deal. Thank you Sehwag, thank you Indian media, thanks for coming. A Ponting century, gift wrapped and delivered to the team hotel in Bangalore!

The Aussies are too smart to fall for that sort of trick themselves. They rarely target Tendulkar, Lara or Dravid in this way. They understand their opponent and play the man accordingly. With Sourav Ganguly or Graeme Smith or Darryl Cullinan, they deliberately change their mode of attack. It is calculated, deliberate and individualised. It is a team plan that is executed down to the last detail. Even club cricket is played with these individual plans for different opponents. And no one deviates from the agreed strategy.

Perhaps Sehwag was merely executing an Indian team plan. Perhaps he was the nominated bait to flush the tiger into the open. If that was the case, it was stunningly naïve. Ponting has proven, time and again, that he thrives under pressure and performs when it matters most. His record in big games is immense and he prides himself on leading from the front. He said as much after the warm-up game in Hyderabad and perhaps he was trying hard to convince himself. Then along came Sehwag and pulled the tiger’s tail. The rest is history.