Sehwag is overrated: Holding

Former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding believes he has been vindicated with the consistent failure of Virender Sehwag in this World Cup.

"This tournament was supposed to be Sehwag's show. In fact, people were comparing him to Sachin Tendulkar. That, I thought, was a joke," Holding said.

Holding has been saying for nearly two years now that Sehwag is a mediocre batsman and would be severely tested on bouncy wickets with juice.

"Today you can see for yourself. Sachin is up there and Sehwag is down in the dumps."

He argued that though Sehwag scored a Test century against England it counted for nothing. "Getting a hundred against England does not count. If you want to show your mettle, score a hundred against Australia, South Africa or Pakistan and not in India but outside the country."

When reminded that he scored a century on debut against South Africa in South Africa, Holding asked what Sehwag had done after that to merit such praises as he had.

"Sehwag is overrated and he needs to prove himself on the international stage."

Skipper Sourav Ganguly has defended the Knight of Najfgarh at media conferences, saying that he is a top class batsman and just one innings away from getting back in form.

Since his hundred in New Zealand, Sehwag's string of scores have been 4,6,4,36,24,23,21,3 causing concern in the Indian camp.

Former South Africa coach Bob Woolmer has said that Sehwag should look to stay at the wicket instead of trying to find the fence from the start.

"He should just spend more time getting in. He is opening the innings. So he has time to spend 6-7 overs and let his natural game start. Look for the singles, look to rotate the strike, give the strike to Tendulkar and don't look to hit fours. He is looking to hit fours all the time, and he is making mistakes. His feet aren't moving well early on he should just make sure that he should try and get a good look at the ball," Woolmer said.

Former Test wicketkeeper and selector Kiran More said that the most disappointing thing about Sehwag's dismissals is he is getting out trying to play artistic strokes for singles.

"If his strength is to score boundaries then just go out and smash the bowling. It is such a waste to see him get out trying to score singles."

Ganguly said that as long he gets the big knock in the important games he would be fine.

One of the teams due to pay India next is sure to pay heavily for Sehwag's bad patch.

In the last 64 ODI games Sehwag has scored eight fifties and five centuries with a staggering strike rate of 98.55.