Virender Sehwag predicts a 5-0 clean sweep in favour of India

Former Indian batter Virender Sehwag was never quite a fan of the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) policy of choosing youth over experience. Known for his hilarious comments, Sehwag bashed the board for not selecting vastly experienced individuals like Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina and even said that the team won’t be able to perform well without them. But owing to the dominating performance from Virat Kohli’s young side, Sehwag is now predicting a 5-0 series victory for Team India.

The Nawab of Najafgarh didn’t hold himself back and even went on to call Kohli’s team as strong as Steve Waugh’s or Ricky Ponting’s mighty Australian squad. According to Sehwag, the potential of the current Australian team is far from what the golden era’s baggy greens’ were capable of. He said that Steve Smith’s team lacks a great bowling unit which Waugh and Ponting possessed since Nathan Coulter-Nile is the only good bowler in this team.

“Team India presently seems to be as strong as Steve Waugh or Ricky Ponting’s Australian teams. The present Australian team lacks strength. I am confident Team India will win the series 5-0. The Australian team does not have good bowlers except Nathan Coulter-Nile. In the batting order, we would have to remove Steve Smith, Warner and Maxwell at the earliest. Smith, in particular, because he always makes runs against India,” said the owner of two triple-tons, as per Times of India.

Sehwag then went on to heap praises on Kohli, not in the usual way but in the typical Sehwagesque manner. “Hothon par hansi, dil me gam hai, Australia wale Kohli se tang hain (With smiles on their faces, but sad at heart, the Aussies find Kohli intimidating). Kohli as captain does not speak much, but his bat speaks for him. Kohli knows how to bring a game under his control, and that is why India is on its winning streak. Dhoni, too, knew how to bring the game under his control,” the 38-year-old stated.

Nice to see the newcomers performing well

Sehwag has been pleasantly surprised by the performances of youngsters like Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. Detailing on their performances, he said: “It is a nice thing that we do not feel the pinch of not having two experienced spinners on our side because our newcomers are performing very well. Kuldeep must bowl according to his field placings because, in the second ODI, he gave away too many runs during his spell. Chahal has the advantage of bowling on wickets like Bengaluru during the IPL matches. Chahal plays for Royal Challengers Bangalore, which is captained by Virat Kohli. So whenever there is a crisis, Kohli hands over the ball to Chahal.”

While Sehwag is not missing Ravi Ashwin in this team, he still is worried about the performances of Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav, whom the selectors favoured ahead of Yuvraj and Raina.

“The middle-order did not perform well in the first two ODIs, and captain Kohli needs to change the batting order. Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav should take advantage of the chances given to them, otherwise, both have been flops till now,” he expressed his concern.