Virender Sehwag (off side king...)
affectionately known as Viru, is one of the leading batsmen in the Indian cricket team. Sehwag is an aggressive right-handed opening batsman and an occasional right-arm off-spin bowler. He played his first One Day International in 1999 and joined the Indian Test cricket team in 2001. In April 2009, Sehwag became the only Indian to be honored as the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World for his performance in 2008.[1]
Sehwag holds multiple records including the highest score made by an Indian in Test cricket (319), which was also the fastest triple century in the history of international cricket (reached 300 off only 278 balls). Sehwag also holds the distinction of being one of three 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.[2] In March 2009, Sehwag smashed the fastest century ever scored by an Indian in ODI cricket, from 60 balls.[3]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.[4] 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 has been 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 was born into a Jat family from Haryana. The son of a grain merchant, Sehwag spent his childhood in a bungalow in a joint family, with siblings, uncles, aunts and sixteen cousins[citation needed]. Though now settled in New Delhi, the Sehwag family hailed from Haryana. Sehwag was the third of four children born to father Krishan and mother Krishna Sehwag, with two older sisters Manju, 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. [6] 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[7].
ehwag's ODI career started poorly when he scored 1 against Pakistan in Mohali in April 1999. His bowling performance was also ineffective and expensive, conceding 35 runs off 3 overs.[14]
Sehwag wasn't given another match until the home series against Zimbabwe[2] in December 2000. Sehwag rose to prominence in his fourth ODI match in March 2001 when he scored 58 off 54 balls, against Australia in Bangalore. Combined with his three wickets, he help earn India a victory and was awarded his first man of the match award.[15] He followed this with an unproductive tour of Zimbabwe in mid 2001.
Sehwag had his international breakthrough in Sri Lanka in August 2001 when he was promoted to the opening slot for the tri-series also involving New Zealand. The promotion to open the innings came because regular opener Sachin Tendulkar was absent due to a foot injury.[16] In the match against New Zealand that was to decide the finalist, he scored his maiden century from 69 balls.[17] The century is the third fastest ODI century for an Indian behind Mohammad Azharuddin's 62 ball effort and Yuvraj singh's 64 ball effort. This was his first score beyond 50 in ten matches and saw him named man of the match. This performance earned him a regular spot in the ODI squad in the middle-order. He bettered his own record by hitting a 60-ball century against New Zealand during the 2009 tour. An innings of note in 2002 was the 22 ball half-century against Kenya in Bloemfontein, tying the second fastest 50 by an Indian.
With Ganguly's injury in the India-England ODI Series in January 2002, Sehwag received another opportunity to open the innings which he seized by scoring 82 from 64 balls in Kanpur in an eight-wicket Indian victory.[18] With good performances as opener, Sehwag was made a permanent fixture at the top of the innings. Sachin Tendulkar, who opened in the England ODI series, was moved to middle order[19] - a strategy that reaped dividends for India in 2002 in ODI matches. In the England series and the preceding tour to South Africa, he compiled 426 runs at 42.6 with four half-centuries [3].
After modest returns on the tours of the West Indies and England in early and mid 2002, he scored 271 runs at 90.33 in the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka, with two man of the match performances. After running out Ian Blackwell, he was involved in a 192 run partnership with Ganguly, scoring 126 from 104 balls to help set up an eight wicket victory against England in a group match.[20] He then scored 58 from 54 balls and took 3/25 including two wickets in the final over to help defeat South Africa by 10 runs[21] to help India progress to the final.
In late 2002 he scored an unbeaten 114 from 82 balls that included a 196 run partnership with Ganguly to lead India to a nine wicket win over the West Indies in Rajkot.[22] He was the only batsman to score a century in the 7 match New Zealand ODI Series where he made two centuries - 108 in Napier[23] in an Indian defeat and 112 in Auckland[24] in a one-wicket victory.
Virender Sehwag had a mediocre 2003 Cricket World Cup, scoring 299 runs at an average of 27, he top scored with 82 in the loss against Australia in the final.[25]
Later in 2003, he scored his fourth century and earned Man of the Match award against New Zealand in Hyderabad, scoring 130 and putting on a 182 run partnership with Tendulkar, to lay the foundations for a 145 run victory.[26] In spite of it, Sehwag struggled for consistency in 2003 and 2003/04 ODI series where he had only one century and 3 fifties, two against minnows - Bangladesh and Zimbabwe and one against Pakistan, in 22 matches.
Even with his inconsistent form, he earned 3 MoM awards in 2004 and 2004/05 ODI season with one award each against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan. In the match against Pakistan in Kochi he scored 108 off 95 balls, his first century in eighteen months which set up a 95 run victory.[27]
Sehwag then started a two year streak without a century in ODIs, as well as having his ODI tour of Pakistan in early 2006 curtailed due to a shoulder injury.[28] His drought in limited overs cricket has puzzled cricket experts because of the consistent performances in Test matches with a high scoring rate has not translated into significant contributions in the ODI format of the game.[29] Sehwag was dropped from the ODI Squad for the WI-IND 4 Match ODI series. With debate over whether he deserved to be included in the 2007 Cricket World Cup squad, captain Dravid's insistence on his retention paved the way to being named in the World Cup squad.[30] However, despite this assurance, Sehwag's form continued to decline.
Sehwag started the 2007 World Cup in poor form, only being picked for the side because of Rahul Dravid's wishes. He scored poorly in the first group match but bounced back to hit a magnificent 114 from 87 deliveries against lowly ranked Bermuda. The Indian team scored 413-5, the highest team total in a World Cup match, and went on to win the match but this was their only win in the tournament.
On March 11, 2009, Sehwag blasted India's fastest ODI hundred against New Zealand by reaching 3 figures in just 60 balls. Eventually, he led India to win its first series win in New Zealand.
Sehwag's scoring rate is extremely quick, at 101.66 runs per 100 balls (it is exceeded only by six current players, only one of whom has played 100 matches, and all of whom have a much lower average). He has had more success in run chases, averaging four more than when batting first, as well as scoring five of his nine centuries in run chases. He has led India on three occasions, due to the unavailability of Dravid due to illness, injury or rotation policy.
Sehwag was often compared to Sachin Tendulkar in his early days due to the similar batting style, build and appearance.[10] He has acknowledged numerous times that he consciously attempted to model his playing style on Tendulkar's in his youth.
Sehwag's technique is often cited as being particularly unorthodox, often backing away (considered technically incorrect) to free his arms whilst playing his shots, in particular to cut or drive spinners inside out. He is frequently cited by commentators for his extremely strong (physically) square cutting and upper cutting and power through the off-side.[75][75]He is also an excellent player of the late cut.[citation needed] In particular his tendency to strike the ball in the air and risk dismissal is a trait which has seen him noted for his chancy and adventurous mindset.[76] He is also noted for a relative lack of footwork,[77] with his timing often attributed to his eyesight. Of late, Sehwag has shown a proclivity to be dismissed by inswing deliveries, something attributed to his leaden-footed batting style. He has also got dismissed playing the cut shot when the ball was too close to his body to cut, especially in limited over matches. [78]
Virender Sehwag is often noted for his extremely attacking style of batting, and in 2005 he was described by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack as the "most exciting opener in the world"[79] due to his aggressive style in Test matches, his strike rate being inferior only to that of Adam Gilchrist and Shahid Afridi. Sehwag has also been noted for his apparent disregard for the match situation, exhibited by aggressive batting even when his team is in a poor position or after being out manoeuvred by the bowler in the recent past.[80] This is a two-edged sword as it allows him to not be psychologically hindered by previous failures, but can also lead to excessive aggression.[81] He was quoted by Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer as a sophisticated slogger.[82] But over the years, his style has changed from "reckless hitting" to that of "controlled aggression", according to an article in the Sydney Morning Herald. Previously Sehwag was known predominantly as an offside player, with a weakness against straight short pitched bowling. However in the last 2 years he has improved his leg side and bouncer hitting considerably. This is shown in the recent ODIs against New Zealand where he utilised the pull, hook and flick shots to devastating effect.
As on 1 March 2007, Sehwag has an average of nearly 65 in the first innings of test matches where he has scored 3374 runs, 12 centuries and 8 fifties in 52 matches. In the second innings, his average drops to 25 and has scored 781 runs and 4 fifties in 50 innings. The first and second innings difference of 40 runs is the one of the highest and indicates a lack of ability in dealing with more difficult batting conditions as the pitch deteriorates. However, his match-saving second-innings 151 against Australia at Adelaide during the 2007-08 Border-Gavaskar series, and a match winning 92 in trying situations at Nagpur during the 2008-09 series, went a long way towards repairing that image. In the 2008 Test series against England, Sehwag played a key role in the fourth innings of the first Test in Chennai. He amassed 83 runs in 68 balls, which helped India chase down an improbable target of 387 with six wickets to spare. This was the highest successful run chase in India, and the fourth highest in Test history.
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