There can be very few better sights in world cricket than an Indian batsman on song. The gentle turn of the wrist to ease the ball into the gap, the almost apologetic use of power play every now and then, the making of room where there is none, the disdain for length, good or bad, all make for a wonderful, wonderful sight. On Sunday’s showing at Colombo’s Premadasa Stadium that fact was brought to light yet again. The batsman on song - Virender Sehwag. His troupe - a bunch of English bowlers who were forced to dance to his tunes.

It was a tremendous sight for sure, the Delhi lad playing every stroke in the book and with such perfection that many would have been led to believe that it was he who had written all the books. The packed crowd at the floodlit as well as moonlit stadium went into raptures every time Sehwag put the ball behind the reach of a desperate fielder and past the boundary. The ball was caressed along the ground, carted over occasionally and generally made to go wherever Sehwag deemed it so. Total and absolute control was what it was all about.

Of course, the start was a bit nervy. After all 270 can never be considered an easy target by any means and on any day, especially in what was a virtual quarterfinal. The conditions too were muggy and there was movement to be had. Given all that it wasn’t a surprise that the first couple of overs saw a few near edges and one definite one that just about eluded a diving Nick Knight at second slip. But then you cannot keep a good man down for long.

Succor for the shaky start actually came from Dominic Cork, one of a growing tribe who believes in using his lip more than the hip when it is a known fact that it is right pivot of the hip that makes for a good bowler. Pointing to his stomach, Cork made a gesture to Sehwag indicating that the batsman had a queasy stomach and that the pressure was getting to him. Sehwag, unusually grim-faced to start with, understood the gesture alright. The result was heart-ache for Cork as Sehwag went berserk from thereon with Andy Caddick bearing most of the initial brunt. Cork, introduced early as a consequence, was reserved for special treatment, Sehwag even thrashing him across the line. The more Cork cussed, the more Sehwag hit him with his skipper Sourav Ganguly too doing likewise towards the end. Poor Cork, he didn’t even have someone else to blame, it was all his doing.

All the while England’s Mike Brearley Mark II fumed and stared and then stared and fumed. Fortunately Nasser Hussain doesn’t have too much hair left - how could he after the way these Indian batsmen have been making a mockery of all his avowed tactics - and always wears a cap to hide what little is there, otherwise he would have pulled it all out and turned bald at the end of the game. Hussain had Caddick bowl around the wicket, Sehwag incredibly made room for himself and sent the ball rearing past cover. Ashley Giles was asked to bowl with the midon in the circle, tempting Sehwag to go over the top, only for the batsman to crack the ball past point. No doubt, it was as frustrating to the English as it was joy to the Indians.

To Hussain’s eternal credit, the last word must go to him. Speaking at the post-match conference, Hussain aptly summed up the breathtaking display of Sehwag (and that of Ganguly lest we forget) thus: “The way these guys batted, I would say we were a few hundred runs short on the day.” It certainly looked like that for not only did Sehwag’s 126 come off a mere 104 balls, the Indian victory came about with 10.3 overs to spare. Time enough for them to have got at least a hundred more.