5 times Virender Sehwag delivered brilliantly with the ball

Virender Sehwag - one of the finest openers ever to don the Indian colours was a class apart when it came to decimating the opposition bowling attack. A combination of fearless batting style, picturesque strokeplay, and sublime timing, he was a nightmare for the oppositions.

He has given some hard times to some of the most dreadful bowlers the world has ever seen in the almost single cricket playing nation and provided India with some excellent knocks in all formats of the game.

Amidst the trademark cover drives, uppercuts and hitting sixes whilst batting at 99 and 299, there have been times when he contributed quite significantly with his useful traditional off-spin in ODIs and Test matches. Although sparingly used, Sehwag was a conventional part-time off-spinner who could provide useful breakthroughs in the need of the hour

Sure, 96 wickets in 251 ODIs and 40 scalps in 104 Test matches don't seem a lot but most of these wickets came when India needed to break a budding or already set partnership. On numerous occasions, he provided breakthroughs by utilizing the nature of the playing conditions to an optimum extent that led to India's victory.

In this piece, we'll have a look at five instances when Sehwag weaved his magic and spun the opposition.

#5 Proclaiming his belonging to the international level

(vs Australia, 2001)

Playing his fourth ODI match for India, Sehwag had to prove his worth in an already star-studded team that consisted of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, and VVS Laxman. In the 1st ODI vs Australia in 2001 at Bengaluru, Sehwag played the role of an all-rounder to help his team secure a crucial win.

With the bat, he contributed a crucial knock of 58 that helped India set up a target of 316 runs. When Ganguly handed him the ball, he dismissed the southpaw Matthew Hayden who was looking dangerous at 99 by a swift delivery that Hayden couldn't pick and got LBWed. In his next over, he sent Damien Martyn packing. Steve Waugh and Gilchrist continued to fight but Sehwag scalped the former to help India take firm control.

Sehwag registered a match-winning spell of 9-0-59-3 and India went on to win the match by 60 runs.

#4 Got you, Adam (3rd Test, Perth 2008)

Winning a Test match at Perth was something that always eluded India until the 3rd Test against Australia that was played from Jan 16-19, 2008. After a terrific knock of 79 by VVS Laxman, India scored 294 in 2nd innings and already had a lead of 118 runs from the 1st innings. A target of 413 runs was set for Australia to win.

At 177/5, Australia still wasn't lost on hope as Adam Gilchrist was out there, holding the fort for his team. The then-skipper Anil Kumble gave the responsibility to Sehwag so as to trouble the batsmen with his off-breaks. Sehwag accepted the challenge and a beautiful delivery pitched outside leg stump (from the left-hander Gilchrist's point of view) prompted Gilchrist to attempt the sweep down at the 3rd man for a boundary.

The ball turned beautifully to rattle the stumps as Gilchrist attempted the shot. Soon enough, Sehwag got the better of Brett Lee and India went on to win the match by 72 runs. Sehwag's bowling figures were 8-1-24-2, a short but extremely useful spell for India.

#3 Running through South African batting line-up

(ICC Champions Trophy 2002, 1st Semi-final)

It was a tough contest for both India and South Africa when these two sides met at Colombo to play the 1st semi-final match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2002. Batting first, India registered 261 runs on the board, thanks to 58,49 and 62 by Sehwag, Dravid and Yuvraj respectively.

In reply, the duo of Herschelle Gibbs and Kallis scored magnificent 116 and 97 runs. Things were looking dangerous for India as South Africa were 213/3 when Sehwag was called to protect India's interests. Boucher was dismissed at 213 when he failed to pick up the flight and turn as the ball got an upper edge off the blade to be caught by Yuvraj.

The last over of the match was given to Sehwag. South Africa was 241/4 and the dangerous Kallis was batting on 97. He hammered the 1st delivery of the over for a six. The scoreboard read 247/4, 15 more runs required for South Africa to win from 5 balls remaining.

On the next ball, Kallis met the same fate as Boucher when a delivery of similar length was misread and the keeper David caught it comfortably. South Africa: 247/5, 4 balls remaining.

Sehwag's turning and precise off-breaks were misinterpreted by the dangerous Lance Klusener who managed to score only 4 runs in next 3 deliveries. On the final ball of the match, Sehwag got the better of Klusener and India won the match by 10 runs.

#2 Magical spell at Dambulla (vs Bangladesh, Asia Cup 2010)

The best spell of Sehwag's career came against Bangladesh

When India faced Bangladesh in the 2nd match of the Asia Cup back in 2010, India were the clear favourites to win and that's how India played- a confident approach resulting in a dominating win.

Batting first, Bangladesh were struggling at 155/5 and the talented Mushfiqur Rahim was holding the fort for his team. When Sehwag was called by the skipper Dhoni to bowl, Sehwag scalped Rahim who was batting patiently at 30. Soon enough, Sehwag cleared the tailenders by bowling beautifully with a precise wicket-to-wicket approach.

Sehwag's bowling figures were 2.5-0-6-4, his career best. Owing to his spell, India restricted Bangladesh to 167 in 34.5 overs and comfortably won the match by 6 wickets.

#1 Sehwag's 1st and only Fifer

(vs Australia; 3rd Test at Delhi,2008)

On a pitch that provided little help for bowlers, India scored 613/7 in the 1st innings, thanks to the double centuries by Gautam Gambhir and VVS Laxman. When Australia came to out to bat their 1st innings, they managed to hit the ball easily. Indian Pacers were unable to scalp wickets on this batsman-friendly pitch and hence, all 10 wickets were taken by 3 spinners - Anil Kumble, Amit Mishra and Virender Sehwag

On his home ground, Sehwag managed to turn the ball gracefully and employed different variations to bamboozle the batsmen. In a high-scoring Test match, the bowlers had to toil to get anything out of the Delhi wicket. What made his spell so special was the fact that he managed to deceive 5 wonderful batsmen with turn - Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting, and Cameron White.

His bowling figures were 40-9-104-5, his first and only fifer that coincidently came at his home ground. Australia were all out for 577 and India got the lead of 36 runs in the 1st innings. The match ended in a draw.