Commentator - “Two balls remaining and India needs six runs to win. India’s hopes are hinged on only one man” (Crowds cheering in the background Sehwag, Sehwag). Virender Sehwag walks in the middle, plays and misses the first ball. The camera suddenly turns to the crowd where a cell phone is ringing. The man looks at his phone and whispers “Sehwag ki maa” (Sehwag’s mother’s call). He then tells himself that he will give the phone after the match. A young kid who was watching this, snatches the phone from the man’s hands and runs over to handover the phone to Sehwag.
Sehwag reads the message “Kar lo duniya mutthi main” (Conquer the world) and hits the next ball for six.
Above is an excerpt from an old telecom ad featuring the legendary batsman Virender Sehwag. To say that he did indeed conquer the cricketing world would be an understatement. His record speaks volume about his achievements.
His style was unique and he did change the way one looked at opening batting in Test matches. Harsha Bhogle had once rightly said, “You hardly ever analysed Sehwag’s innings, you just enjoyed them.”
Talking about enjoyment, much like he enjoyed his batting and entertained fans world over, these days he has been entertaining fans with his witty commentary and tweets.
So, on his 38th birthday, we bring to you some interesting records and stories about The Nawab of Najafgarh.
#10 When Sehwag’s father tried to end his cricket career
Sehwag was born in the family of a grain merchant and, as a result, his father wanted him to study and take over the family business. In the early years, he did not appreciate Sehwag’s obsession with cricket.
This disapproval reached its peak when a 12-year-old Sehwag came home after losing one of his tooth. Recalling the incident his father said, “I spent Rs. 5000 to replace his broken tooth, I did not want to see him hurt like that.” Being a concerned a father who did not want his child to be hurt, he put a ban on Sehwag’s cricket.
But Sehwag who never had a liking for rules, with the help of his mother, pursued cricket. He used to hide his playing kit on the terrace to escape his father’s eyes, but his father knew what was going on behind his eyes but by now had resigned to his son’s obsession with the game.
Thankfully, Sehwag went on to play cricket and win matches for India.
#9 Jaywant Lele and Madan Lal were instrumental in Sehwag’s selection in ODIs
Sehwag had made his ODI debut against Pakistan in April 1999, however, he was not picked again for close to 20 months. His chance came against the touring Zimbabwe team in 2000.
But even this chance would not have come had it not been for former BCCI secretary Jaywant Lele. Lele had recently revealed that north zone selector Madan Lal always used to bring up Sehwag’s name during selection committee meetings. And his suggestion was always ignored by the other members of the selection committee.
So, when the team for the 5th ODI to be played at Rajkot was being discussed, Madan Lal again had planned to bring up Sehwag’s name. But this time, he took Lele in confidence and asked him to convince chairman of selectors Chandu Borde, who was also Lele’s close friend.
Lele did go to Borde to convince him to include Sehwag and Borde did agree, on the condition that Lele will take up the responsibility of the selection by saying that the chairman could not be contacted and that’s why Sehwag was selected.
Thankfully, Sehwag did not look back after this match and avoided an explanation on the parts of Lele and Borde.
#8 Had promised in 2001 that he would score a triple century in a Test match
Most cricketers will tell you that one doesn’t plan a double or a triple century and that bating well will reward the batsman a double or triple century. So, although every batsman dreams of scoring a Test match triple century, rarely do they make this dream public.
However, Virender Sehwag would be last person on the planet to follow a norm. VVS Laxman recalled how Sehwag had told him way back in 2001 that he will one day score a triple hundred in Test match. Sehwag had said, “Bratha (he always calls me that, for some reason), I know you made 281 in Kolkata, and it was a special knock. You missed a triple century, you should have gone on to make a 300. But I know I will make a triple-hundred for India in Test cricket.”
Laxman himself was amazed at Sehwag’s self-belief and self-confidence. And in less than three years since making that promise to Laxman, Sehwag scored his first triple century against Pakistan in Multan in 2004.
#7 293 against Sri Lanka gave him more satisfaction than the two triple centuries
When you are the only player from your country to have scored a triple century (two in Sehwag’s case), one would think that one of the two triple centuries would be your favourite innings.
But if the player in question is Virender Sehwag, then you are mistaken. As per Sehwag, his 293 against Sri Lanka in Mumbai in 2009 gave him more satisfaction than the two triple centuries.
The reason was that not only did India win the match (India had won when he had scored a triple century in Multan as well), Indian team also became the top-ranked Test tTeam. Recalling the match, Sehwag said, “I took signatures of all the players on the shirt I had worn in that innings.”
#6 Record of making the fastest triple century in Test match cricket
It should come as no surprise that Sehwag holds the record for the fastest triple century in Test match cricket. Given his explosive nature of batting and a career strike rate of 82.23 in over 100 Test matches, one would expect him to be the holder of such records.
In his first triple century against Pakistan, he reached the landmark of 300 in 364 balls, just two behind Matthew Hayden’s then record of 300 off 362 balls.
He corrected this when he got to his second triple century against South Africa in Chennai, this time around reaching it in just 278 balls, making it the fastest triple century ever scored in Tests.
#5 Holds the unique record of scoring two triple centuries and taking five wickets in Test matches
Sehwag may not have been a regular bowler, but in his early years, he was more than a handy off-break bowler. In fact, he had earned himself a reputation of being a partnership breaker.
He had a unique record of being the only player in the history of Test match cricket to have scored two triple centuries and also have a five-wicket haul in an innings to his name (in separate tests).
He achieved this feat of taking five wickets in an innings at his home ground in Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi, against Australia in 2008. Sehwag’s figures read 5-104 in Australia’s first innings.
The match ended in a draw but that spell put Sehwag’s name for a unique reason in the record books.
#4 Only the second player to have three scores in excess of 290 in Test matches
Along with Sir Don Bradman, Brian Lara, and Chris Gayle, Sehwag is one of the four cricketers to have scored two triple centuries in Test matches. He is also the only Indian to have ever scored a test match triple century.
However, the lesser known record is that Sir Don and Sehwag are the only two cricketers to have three scores in excess of 290 in Test matches. While Sir Don’s top three scores are 334, 304 and 299*; Sehwag’s scores in excess of 290 are - 319, 309 & 293.
Now when you share a batting record with Sir Don, you ought to be special.
#3 When Sehwag came up with a new method to counter reverse swing
Much like his different batting technique, Sehwag had out-of-the-box solutions to common problems. Below is a tale of how he countered reverse swing in his own unique style.
Sehwag was batting for Leicestershire against Middlesex in English county cricket and Pakistani bowler Abdul Razzak had started to get the ball to reverse swing. Worried at this, Sehwag came up to his batting partner Jeremy Snape and said, “We must lose this ball. I have a plan.”
And in the very next over he smashed the ball out of the ground forcing the umpires to pick another ball which would not reverse swing immediately. Sehwag came to Snape and said, “We are all right for one hour.”
#2 Indian coach John Wright had once grabbed Sehwag by his collar
When in full flow, Sehwag’s batting is a treat for fans. But when things are going his way, Sehwag’s dismissals can make fans and the management pull their hair in disgust. Indian coach John Wright was victim to this frustration and was angered by Sehwag’s mode of dismissal, he, in fact, had once grabbed Sehwag by his collar.
The incident happened during India’s tour of England in 2002. India had bowled out Sri Lanka for 202 runs at The Oval. Chasing the total, soon after Sourav Ganguly’s dismissal, Sehwag had got out trying to blast one over the bowler’s head leaving the Indian score at 26 for 2.
So, when Sehwag came back to the dressing room; Wright grabbed him by the collar and said,”What the hell’s going on? How can you come back in here after playing a shot like that and unbuckle your pads as if nothing’s happened.”
Senior players had to intervene to get things sorted out between the two.
#1 The human side of Sehwag
Given his records, it is difficult to forget Virender Sehwag - a man who redefined batting, especially in Test matches. Well, Sehwag knows that he will be cheered always for his records, but he wants to be remembered for something more than that.
In an interview to ESPNCricinfo, he had said, “With my record, everyone will cheer till the time I am alive but I want to be remembered as a good human being who helped a lot of people. We still remember Don Bradman for his average and hundreds. People will remember my record but I want to be remembered as a person who helped a lot of cricketers when they were going through a rough patch.”
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