About

Our quintessential Viru, who will never let down the time, Virender Sehwag needs no introduction. One of the most destructive batsmen in the history of cricket, the former Indian cricketer is from a different league altogether. He has been the Vice-Captain of the Indian team, Delhi Ranji team, as well as IPL team Delhi Daredevils, his list of records, is almost infinite, and don’t even get started on his centuries! The man was invincible on the field and not he is killing it on social media with his wit.

The Nawab of Najafgarh, as he is fondly called, has had an interesting life. From controversies, achievements, the highs and the lows, to personal milestones, we explore everything right here.

When he was just seven years old, Sehwag was gifted a toy bat. Perhaps as an inclination of his bright future in cricket, it soon became his favourite toy! Sehwag knew that he wasn’t academically inclined, so he made up his mind to pursue a career in sports. Viru convinced his parents to allow him to play cricket. Since he started playing cricket as a child, his batting style was attacking. He received guidance from coach Amar Nath Sharma.

The cricketing legend was almost stopped from making history due to an accident in 1990 when he broke his tooth while playing. His father was worried about his safety and asked him to stop playing. Fortunately for Sehwag and the entire country as well as all global cricket fans, his mother was somehow successful in convincing his father to let him play. Phew!

Sehwag completed his graduation from Jamia Millia Islamia and then started representing Delhi in domestic cricket.

Domestic Career

Sehwag started playing for the Delhi cricket team from the 1997-98 season. He was also part of the Duleep Trophy. He scored 274 in a match and impressed everyone. Later he was a part of U-19 team which toured South Africa. His performance through his first-class career was superb, and he became a favourite of all selectors.

International Career

Sehwag’s first international ODI was a disaster as he scored just one against Pakistan in April 1999. Thus almost for the next couple of years, he didn’t get any other opportunity. In December 2000, Sehwag got his second chance, and he wasn’t going to let go of this one. In March 2001, he scored 58 off 54 runs and took three wickets as well. The result was his first man of the match award. In August the very same year, he started opening the match. With stellar performances, he cemented his team in the Indian squad.

At the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka, Sehwag won two Man of the Match awards. However, his performance in the 2003 Cricket World Cup was average. In the next few years, his performance in test cricket was superb, but he couldn’t score much in limited-overs.

After a brief dip in performance, he came back stronger. He continued blasting centuries in spite of inconsistency in form. Sehwag has featured in ICC’s World XI numerous times.

Curtains closed one of the most celebrated cricketing careers, as Sehwag announced his retirement from all formats of international cricket on 20th October 2015.

IPL

Sehwag started his IPL journey with home-team Delhi Daredevils. He captained the side in the first two editions of the league. Later, he focused more on mentoring Gautam Gambhir. In the fifth edition, he was once again the captain and scored five consecutive half-centuries.

Playing Style

The right-handed batsman has opened numerous matches in style and made the opponent team lose hope in no time. Unabashed, dashing, and aggressive, his batting style has always been destructive. Though often compared to Sachin Tendulkar in his early days, Sehwag has always been known as an orthodox batsman.

The Century Man

Sehwag has always blasted centuries and made them look like a walk in the park. One of his most memorable triple centuries definitely is the 319 he scored against South Africa in M.A. Chidambaram Stadium Chennai. That is also the highest score made an Indian in test cricket. He just took 278 balls to reach 300, making the fastest international triple century as well. He has surpassed the score of 300 twice in his career. Most of his centuries have been record-breaking. And Sehwag truly deserves the moniker, Century Man.

Interesting Facts about Virender Sehwag

• Sehwag has started a school where students can study, train, stay, and play various sports in Jhajjar, Haryana. It was his father’s dream, and when Haryana government offered him land, he opened the school. By the year 2017, 22 students from the school had already represented national and state teams.
• Sehwag has appeared as a guest on the popular singing reality show, Indian Idol in January 2017.
• Gate No. 2 at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium was named after Sehwag by Delhi and District Cricket Association.
• Sehwag joins hands with the non-fungible token (NFT) bandwagon. He has signed up with NFT platform Rario — the world’s first officially licensed cricket digital collectibles platform that enables fans to buy and trade NFTs not only of cricketers but also international leagues.

Famous Virender Sehwag Quotes

• “I try to hum songs, bhajans, Sai Bababhajans, Kishore Kumar songs, especially those pictured on Amitabh Bachchan, till the bowler is about to deliver. Try to sing songs as perfectly as possible in order to keep my mind completely uncluttered.”
• “I don’t listen to people, don’t watch TV and don’t read newspapers. It’s better to use the time to work on your game.”
• “I don’t believe in technique, I believe in performance. If you are tough, whether you have a technique or not, you’ll survive.”
• “I play my natural game. If the ball is there for hitting, then I hit it. That’s it, nothing else. I’m not disappointed because the ball was loose and you go for a loose ball. It doesn’t matter if I’m out or not.”

Awards and Honours

• Padma Shree, 2010
• Arjuna Award, 2002
• Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World, 2008 & 2009
• ICC Test Player of the Year, 2010

International Records

• Fastest Triple Century (278 balls)
• Highest Test Score with 100-plus Strike Rate (319)
• Most Triple Test Centuries (2)
• Highest Score by an ODI Captain (219)
• Second Highest Number of Fours, ODI – 25 & Test – 47
• Second Fastest 250 in Tests (207 balls)

National Records

• First Indian Batsman to Score Test Triple Century
• Fastest 150/200/250/300 in Tests
• Most Test Runs in a Day (284)
• Most Sixes in Test Career (91)
• Fasest 150/200 in ODIs
• Most Runs from Boundaries in Test Innings (202)
• Most International Runs as an Opener (16,119)

Statistics

Batting and Fielding Averages

Bowling Averages