There were just not runs galore in the Lahore Test between India and Pakistan. The cricket's sideshow saw umpires goof up and players going at each other's throat, literally.
A few things we would never know but a few we do now. A few may have also skipped our attention. But all of it, put together, gives an insight about the players who thrall us and umpires whom we love to hate.
Virender Sehwag not only braved the pressure of a mammoth total in the Lahore Test, he also came better in a stand-off against Mohammad Sami which only added an element of chutzpah for the second Test, starting on Saturday.
As Sehwag pounded boundaries on the off-side, Sami, after one of his deliveries, came close to the batsman in his follow through till he uttered: 'Seedha khel sakta hai to khel (play straight if you can). Sehwag, never at a loss for a word or a stroke, said 'Tu seedha to phek' (only if you could bowl straight)".
Sehwag, later, was well past his double hundred when Sami needled him once again: "You don't seem to be hitting fours now, what happened?" Sehwag again was on cue "How many fours you now want me to hit?"
Statistics tell its own tale: Sehwag took 47 runs off the 48 balls he faced from Sami. He scored at a run-a-ball against Danish Kaneria (39 runs off 39 balls) and Shoaib Malik (35 off 35). He was most contemptuous of Navedul Hasan Rana whom he smashed for 65 runs from his 46 balls. Shoaib conceded only 22 from his 31 balls and earned the most respect.
{{/usCountry}}Statistics tell its own tale: Sehwag took 47 runs off the 48 balls he faced from Sami. He scored at a run-a-ball against Danish Kaneria (39 runs off 39 balls) and Shoaib Malik (35 off 35). He was most contemptuous of Navedul Hasan Rana whom he smashed for 65 runs from his 46 balls. Shoaib conceded only 22 from his 31 balls and earned the most respect.
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