Virender Sehwag is more than an opening batsman. Through his astounding achievements he has come to represent an attitude to batting.

That attitude has both been praised and admonished as simple yet irresponsible.

Batting is not a complex tactical and technical mix to Sehwag. He see's every ball in every situation as a chance to score runs. Ideally a boundary but he will take less if he must.

He does not worry about conditions, or who is bowling or the situation of the match. He just wants to score runs. It's why he has one of the highest strike rates in the history of Test cricket.

And he does with a great eye, perfect timing and a technique that allows him to play shots all round the ground.

There is not an ounce of doubt, its pure courage and confidence in his ability to score in any situation.

Cut out the clutter

We can argue long into the night about whether it is the right approach to try to score off every ball regardless of the situation (Even his captain dropped him in T20)

The idea fails spectacularly as often it succeeds for Sehwag.

But the fact he keeps his mind clear from clutter is certainly his strength.

That means if you can learn the methods he uses to stay worry-free then you can bat with the same courage no matter what your technical approach.

And I think that is the secret of learning to bat like Sehwag.

You don't need to copy his technique, you don't need to try and score at his speed. You do need to take his clear, reactive mind out to the middle and leave your doubts over the other side of the boundary rope.

How do you do that?

You practice hard in the nets of course, but you also have a mental net too.

You spend time working out where your doubts lie and what your mental weaknesses are. Then you put a plan into place to stop them from tripping you up.

This approach varies for different personality types, but it's easy to make a start. All you need to do is enrol on the online coaching course "How to Use Mental Training to Boost Your Game" where you can build up your own mental process.

Use it wisely and you will have the courage of Sehwag.