Virender Sehwag
Virender Sehwag (born 20 October 1978) is a former Indian cricketer often considered as the most destructive batsman of the game. An aggressive right-handed opening batsman and a part-time right-arm off-spin bowler, he played his first One Day International in 1999 and joined the Indian test side in 2001.In April 2009, Sehwag became the only Indian to be honoured as the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World for his performance in 2008, subsequently becoming the first player of any nationality to retain the award for 2009.
Sehwag holds multiple records including the highest score made by an Indian in Test cricket (319 against South Africa at at M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai), which was also the fastest triple century in the history of international cricket (reached 300 off only 278 balls) as well as the fastest 250 by any batsman (in 207 balls against Sri Lanka on 3 December 2009 at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai). His other innings of 309 and 293 are also the second and third best by any Indian player. Sehwag also holds the distinction of being one of four batsmen in the world to have ever surpassed 300 twice in Test cricket, and the only one to score two triple centuries and take a five-wicket innings haul. In March 2009, Sehwag smashed what was till then the fastest century ever scored by an Indian in ODI cricket, from 60 balls. On 8 December 2011, he hit his maiden double century in ODI cricket, against West Indies, becoming the second batsman after Sachin Tendulkar to reach the landmark. His score became the highest individual score in ODI cricket 219 off 149 balls which was later bettered by Rohit Sharma 264 off 173 balls on 13 November 2014. He is one of only two players in the world to score a double hundred in ODI and a triple hundred in Test Cricket, the other being Chris Gayle.
Sehwag was appointed as vice-captain of the Indian team under Rahul Dravid in October 2005 but due to poor form, he was later replaced by V. V. S. Laxman in December 2006 as Test vice-captain. In January 2007, Sehwag was dropped from the ODI team and later from the Test team as well. During his term as vice-captain, Sehwag skippered the team in place of injured Dravid in 2 ODIs and 1 Test. Following his return to form in 2008 and the retirement of Anil Kumble, Sehwag was reappointed as the vice-captain for both Tests and ODIs. By early 2009, Sehwag had reestablished himself as one of the best performing batsmen in ODI cricket. Sehwag retired from all forms of International cricket on October 20, 2015.
Early years:
Sehwag was born in the family of a grain merchant. He spent his childhood in a joint family with siblings, uncles, aunts and sixteen cousins. Though now settled in New Delhi, the Sehwag family hails from Haryana. Sehwag was the third of four children born to father Krishan and mother Krishna Sehwag, with two older sisters Manju and Anju, and younger brother Vinod. His father attributes his interest in cricket to a toy bat which he was given when he was seven months old. He attended Arora Vidya School in Delhi, and pestered his parents to let him play cricket, on the basis that he was not academically gifted. Early in his career he had a reputation for being an attacking batsman and his coach was coach Amar Nath Sharma. His father tried to end his career when he broke a tooth as a child in 1990, but Sehwag evaded the ban with the help of his mother.[20] Later he attended Jamia Milia Islamia for graduation.
ODI summary:
Sehwag’s scoring rate is extremely quick, at 103.44 runs per 100 balls (it is exceeded only by one current player: Shahid Afridi, who has a much lower average). He has had more success in run chases, scoring seven of his thirteen centuries while chasing. He has led India on seven occasions, due to the unavailability of the incumbent due to illness, injury or rotation policy. In December 2011 Sehwag scored 219 in 149 deliveries against West Indies at Indore. He has the record of 2nd highest individual score in ODI.
Retirement:
On 20 October 2015 Sehwag announced retirement from all formats of cricket and IPL.
On 7 November 2015, Sehwag scored 55 runs in game 1 of the Cricket All-Stars Twenty20 series for Sachin’s Blasters, and was the only person from either side (against Warne’s Warriors) to score a half-century, 5+ sixes and a strike rate of over 150 (SR of 250).
Awards:
Arjuna Award (2002)
Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World 2008, 2009
ICC Test Player of the Year 2010
Padma Shree 2010
Records:
International Records:
Only batsman in the history to have scored 7,500-plus runs in both Tests & ODIs as an opener.
Fastest Test triple century for which he took 278 balls
Second fastest 250 in Tests for which he took 207 balls. The record is held by Ben Stokes, who took 196 balls.
Third fastest Test double hundreds in terms of balls faced. He also has four of the top ten fastest Test double hundreds to his credit.
Second fastest ODI double century for which he took 140 balls
Third highest individual score in ODIs: 219
Second highest number of fours in a Test innings: 47
Second highest number of fours in an ODI innings: 25
Highest ever Test score in history at a 100-plus strike rate: 319
Second fastest in the world to reach to 7000 Test runs.
Most triple centuries in Tests: 2 (joint record holder along with Don Bradman, Brian Lara & Chris Gayle)
Most 290+ scores in Tests: 3 (joint record holder along with Don Bradman)
Second highest number of 250-plus Test scores: 4
Only cricketer in the Test history to score two triple centuries & to take five wickets in an innings.
Third highest Test runs in a day. He achieved this feat against Sri Lanka in the 2009 Mumbai Test, where he scored 284 runs in a day. These are also the highest Test runs scored by any batsman in a day since 1933.
Highest ever Test batting strike rate among all the cricketers who have scored 2,000-plus Test runs.
Second highest ever ODI batting strike rate among all the cricketers – and highest among ODI openers – who have scored 2,000-plus ODI runs.
Converted 11 successive Test hundreds into 150+ scores.
Only cricketer to be part of two consecutive double-century partnerships in a Test innings. He performed this feat twice.
Sehwag & Graham Gooch are the only batsmen to make more than 60% of the team’s runs while carrying bat through a completed Test innings.
Highest score by a Captain in the ODI innings (219).
National Records:
Most international runs in career as an opener: 16,119
Only Indian batsman to have scored a Test triple century.
Fastest 150/200/250/300 in Tests.
Fastest 150/200 in ODIs.
Fastest ODI fifty/century & fastest Test century outside India.
Top three highest individual Test scores.
Fastest to reach to 3000/4000/7000 Test runs.
Most Test double centuries: 6 (joint record holder along with Sachin Tendulkar)
Most 250-plus scores in Tests: 4
Most Test runs in a day: 284
Highest number of fours in a Test innings: 47
Only Indian to have twice scored 1400-plus Test runs in a calendar year.
Highest ever Test batting strike rate among all Indian cricketers who have scored 1,000-plus Test runs.
Highest ever ODI batting strike rate among all Indian cricketers who have scored 1,000-plus ODI runs.
Most sixes in Test career: 91
Most runs from boundaries in a Test innings: 202
Sehwag & Sachin Tendulkar are the only Indian cricketers to have hit 1000-plus fours in both Tests & ODIs.
Most ‘Player of the Series’ awards in Tests: 5 (joint record holder along with Sachin Tendulkar)
Third highest ‘Player of the Match’ awards in Tests & ODIs: 31
Only Indian to have been twice honored as the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World.
