Sehwag made his last international appearance against Australia in March last year, in which he scored just six runs in the second Border-Gavaskar Test at Hyderabad. He had managed a paltry 31 in the second ODI against Pakistan at the Eden Gardens in January that India lost by 85 runs.
He had a disastrous domestic season and his decision to bat down the order also bombed. So, keeping his poor record in mind no franchise rallied behind him in the recently concluded IPL-7 auctions. But Kings XI Punjab co-owner Preity Zinta is convinced that he may lead the team to their first title since reaching the semifinals in the first season.
"I am ecstatic and thrilled that we have Viru on our side. First of all he is a very simple player. I believe form is temporary and class is permanent and this guy has achieved all sorts of records. He has slammed a double and a triple ton, so on his day he can tear the opposition apart," Preity told TOI in an exclusive chat.
"My prediction is that Viru is going to rock this tournament. It's not to put him under pressure but A.) I'm a great fan of his and B.) He's more suited to us. He's the kind of player who can crack 150 runs on his day and single-handedly destroy the rival team. He has that potential which nobody can deny. We would give him that support, let him play his natural game, be happy and do whatever he wants," the actor added with her dimpled smile.
Indians have struggled abroad on bouncy tracks and with the IPL being staged in South Africa, there are more chances of that. But Preity believes Sehwag's game is more suited to such conditions.
"Looking at his game, he's one guy who always likes the ball to come to him. He goes back in his crease and plays on the backfoot rather than step out and reach the ball. So I think Mohali pitches or for that matter any fast wicket is good for him, with the ball coming to him he can whack it to any part of the ground. So his style of batting is much more suited to Mohali than the Kotla wicket. He offers a really good blend to our team," she added. But would Sehwag captain her side? "You need to wait for the announcement. We haven't decided it as yet but will let people know in some while for sure."
With the likes of Shaun Marsh, George Bailey, Cheteshwar Pujara and David Miller in their side Kings XI have a good chance to claim the elusive title.
"Our middle-order was not very good, so we ensured we had a solid line-up. So, we got Bailey and Maxwell and retained Miller the 'cub'. Three years in a row we missed the semifinals by just one game. It was unfortunate, now that we don't have court cases, no problems and we have shown our intent by picking a good team. We have the best chance to win this time. I don't want to hear our team is good on paper but I want to see them do well on the ground," she said.
Kings XI Punjab were the only IPL team besides Rajasthan Royals which saved a decent sum from the available Rs 60-crore purse despite some great buys in the auction. Not only did they buy the most in-form Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson (Rs 6.5 cr) but also all-rounder Glenn Maxwell (Rs 6 cr). Johnson was the architect of Australia's Ashes victory and Mumbai Indians' decision to release him for auction came under scrutiny but Preity is more than pleased to have him in her side.
"God has been kind, that Mitchell was not retained by Mumbai and Viru by Delhi. We thank our stars that we got Mitchell. We always had an issue with our foreign pacers. First it was Brett (Lee) who got injured, then Jerome Taylor who never made it to the squad. Then we got Stuart Broad, he too was injured so finally we have Mitchell. We wanted him in our team at any cost as I am a big fan of his, the way he dominated in the last edition. Though I couldn't watch him play the Ashes. But he's the sort of bowler who has the ability to dominate without being negative in his game — being nasty or unreasonably aggressive. He shows his aggression through his bowling. I saw him play for Mumbai, he has variation but he keeps his calm. He doesn't flip out," she said.
Most of Kings XI's auction decisions were influenced by former India opener Sanjay Bangar, who has been hired as assistant coach. But it was India's 2011 World Cup hero Yuvraj Singh who recommended Bangar's name for the job after Cricket Australia refused to release Darren Lehmann for IPL.
"We were really worried after we lost out on Darren. I was discussing this with Yuvi one day that we will have to compete this time without a good coach and he said 'why don't you go for a good Indian player'. He was the one who suggested Sanjay's name and I was like who is this guy. Yuvi told me that he's a good guy, think about him and he will be good for youngsters. I realised big players don't need a coach its for the younger guys, its like seasoned actors don't need a big director. A seasoned actor knows where to get inspiration from, how to handle complexities in a character," she revealed.
Preity credited Bangar for not only managing the team's finances well but also helping them get some good uncapped players.
"Thank god after all these years we were able to save some money. Thanks to some sound planning, a few impulsive decisions and Sanjay. Sanjay is a young, dynamic guy who doesn't talk much but was really focused about whom we wanted in the side. Sanjay was the one who guided us about the uncapped domestic players as we didn't know much about Rishi Dhawan or Akshar Patel. People have applauded us for that. We wanted players who had amazing skill sets and could also be incredible all-rounders. In auctions you do not win every time. The only person we thought we missed was Yuvi. We would have liked to have him as he is from Mohali but we couldn't.
"I felt bad to let PC (Piyush Chawla) go but he went for a good price, so I am happy for him. But we had our budgeting issues and from Day One we had plans to keep Rs 12-15 crores separate for the final day of the auctions. It's the IPL and Indians should get a chance so we wanted to buy some talented youngsters and with Sanjay's help we pulled it off well," she added.
Cheteshwar Pujara, hasn't figured ever in a international One-dayer let alone Twenty20, but Preity believes he will play the role of an anchor well.
"Test is the ultimate format in cricket. So if you can do the ultimate well why can't you do well in T20. Cheteshwar was on our list but it was Sanjay who had more confidence on him than anybody. He's a stealth player, he can rotate the strike let somebody else do the bang bang and that's also imp. So when somebody is on a roll the other guy needs to wait.T20 is a short format but its not that short also. You need that balance, somebody to anchor. We have seen that with Rahul Dravid or the greatest players in cricket. Cheteshwar is capable of some big hits too but it depends on the match situation. Marsh did that as an opener, Gurkeerat did that for us. Miller gave us big hits but if you start losing wickets, its then when the batsman on a blizzard gets nervous its then you need someone like a Cheteshwar," the ever-bubbly actor said.
Adam Gilchrist had assumed the role of a mentor and captain in the last season but Kings XI will miss him this time, with the wicketkeeper-batsman skipping the IPL to spend time with his family.
"He's not here with us, we would have been happy to have him but he said he will not be available. He's such a nice guy, I remember Mandeep was warming the benches for KKR (Kolkata Knight Riders) but Gilly gave him a chance. It was Gilly who spotted him in the nets and asked him to go and play and Mandeep then produced some really good knocks. Gilly also supported Paul (Valthaty)," she said.
The Mohali outfit decided not to pick Aussie David Hussey, who went unsold, despite winning some crucial matches for them.
"There's a cap on the number of players you can have. So that's why we had to leave him out and that helped us to save some money as well. I would have loved to have David back and even Azhar Mahmood for that matter as he's a great all-rounder but you got to go with the bigger plan. You need to listen to people who know cricket more than you and take their advice."
With the spot-fixing scandal tarnishing IPL's image, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) came out with some stringent guidelines. But have the franchisees done much to curb players' temptation to engage in fixing.
"Firstly, we have gone for players who are known for their integrity throughout the world. Secondly, there's a code of ethics and conduct formulated by each franchisee besides the BCCI and thirdly, with the spotlight on fixing I don't think any player will have the guts to do anything like that. If somebody still indulges in fixing he should face a harsh punishment - banned for life - which means not only stopped from playing the game but also not work as commentators or anyone sharing their opinions on cricket," she signed off.
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