Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag
Sehwag in 2012
Personal information
Full name
Virender Sehwag
Born (1978-10-20) 20 October 1978 (age 46)
Najafgarh, Delhi, India
NicknameViru, Nawab of Najafgarh, Sultan of Multan
Height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight arm off break
RoleOpening batsman
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 239)3 November 2001 v South Africa
Last Test2 March 2013 v Australia
ODI debut (cap 123)1 April 1999 v Pakistan
Last ODI3 January 2013 v Pakistan
ODI shirt no.44
T20I debut (cap 9)1 December 2006 v South Africa
Last T20I2 October 2012 v South Africa
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1997–2014Delhi
2015Haryana
2003Leicestershire
2008–2013Delhi Daredevils
2014Rest of the World XI
2014Marylebone Cricket Club
2014–2015Kings XI Punjab
2015Sachin's Blasters
2017Maratha Arabians
2018Diamonds XI
2020-2021India Legends
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 104 251 194 332
Runs scored 8,586 8,273 14,683 10,454
Batting average 49.34 35.05 47.36 34.05
100s/50s 23/32 15/38 42/55 16/57
Top score 319 219 319 219
Balls bowled 3,731 4,392 8,614 6,009
Wickets 40 96 105 142
Bowling average 47.35 40.13 42.57 36.29
5 wickets in innings 1 0 1 0
10 wickets in match 0 0 0 0
Best bowling 5/104 4/6 5/104 4/6
Catches/stumpings 91/– 93/– 166/– 120/–
Medal record
Men's Cricket
Representing  India
ICC Cricket World Cup
Winner 2011 India-Bangladesh-Sri Lanka
ICC T20 World Cup
Winner 2007 South Africa
ICC Champions Trophy
Winner 2002 Sri Lanka
ACC Asia Cup
Winner 2010 Sri Lanka
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 6 January 2016

Virender Sehwag (pronunciationⓘ, born 20 October 1978) is a former Indian cricketer who represented India from 1999 to 2013. Widely regarded as one of the most destructive openers[1][2] and one of the greatest batsmen of his era, he played for Delhi Capitals in IPL and Delhi and Haryana in Indian domestic cricket. He batted right-handed and played his first One Day International in 1999 and joined the Indian Test side in 2001.[3][4] In April 2009, Sehwag became the first Indian to be honoured as the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World for his performance in 2008,[5] subsequently becoming the first player of any nationality to retain the award for 2009.[6] He worked as stand-in captain occasionally during absence of main captain of India, also worked as Vice-Captain for Indian squad. He is former captain of Delhi Daredevils and Delhi Ranji Team. During his time with India, Sehwag was a member of the team that was one of the joint winners of the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy, the winners of the 2007 T20 World Cup, and the winners of the 2011 Cricket World Cup. During the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy, Sehwag was the highest run scorer with 271 runs. In 2023, he was inducted into ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.[7]

Sehwag holds multiple records including the highest score made by an Indian in Test cricket (319 against South Africa 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). Sehwag also holds the distinction of being one of four batsmen in the world to have ever surpassed 300 twice in Test cricket.[8] Sehwag has the highest career strike rate in Test matches among batsmen with minimum 3000 Test runs. Sehwag's career strike rate in Test matches is 82.23.[9] In March 2009, Sehwag smashed what was until then the fastest century ever scored by an Indian in ODI cricket, from 60 balls.[10] 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.[11] 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.[12][13][14] 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.[15]

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.[16] During his term as vice-captain, Sehwag led 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.[17]

Sehwag retired from all forms of International cricket on 20 October 2015.[18] Now, he is serving as the member of the Anti Doping Appeal Panel of the National Anti Doping Agency under the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Government of India.

  1. ^ "Virender Sehwag, the most destructive batsman of his era". DNA India. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  2. ^ "'One of the most destructive openers in Test history': VVS Laxman lauds Virender Sehwag". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  3. ^ "On This Day In 2001: Virender Sehwag Smashed His Maiden Ton On Test Debut - News18". www.news18.com. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  4. ^ "Virender Sehwag Profile - Cricket Player India | Stats, Records, Video". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
  5. ^ TNN (9 April 2009). "Sehwag is world's top cricketer for 2008". Cricket.timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  6. ^ "Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World". Wisden. Archived from the original on 4 December 2010. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
  7. ^ "India's Virender Sehwag, Diana Edulji and Sri Lanka's Aravind D'Silva enter ICC's Hall of Fame". The Hindu. 13 November 2023. Archived from the original on 14 November 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  8. ^ "Virender Sehwag". ESPNCricInfo. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  9. ^ Abhishek (18 July 2020). "5 Batsmen With Highest Strike Rate In Test Cricket (Min. 5000 Runs)". The Cricket Lounge. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  10. ^ "PTI: Sehwag becomes fastest Indian centurion in ODIs". Mathrubhumi. 11 March 2009. Archived from the original on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  11. ^ "Ind vs WI: Sehwag slams 112-ball 150 as India eye massive total". The Times of India. 8 December 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  12. ^ "Records / One-Day Internationals / Batting records / Most runs in an innings". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference doublehundred was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ "Virender Sehwag becomes 2nd batsman to slam 200 in ODIs". NDTV. 8 December 2011. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  15. ^ "Sehwag ends his slump in style". 8 December 2011. Rediff.com. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
  16. ^ "Sehwag out, Ganguly picked for ODIs". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  17. ^ Cricketnext.com. "Cricketnext: Top Performer: Virender Sehwag". Cricketnext.in.com. Archived from the original on 14 March 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  18. ^ "Sehwag quits internationals and IPL". Retrieved 9 September 2018.