Virender Sehwag has been elected as an Honorary Life Member of the MCC. The Test opener joins his countrymen Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly on the list of Honorary Life Members.
The 37-year-old had an outstanding international career and featured in 104 Tests, 251 ODIs and 19 T20 internationals for India. Swashbuckling by nature, Sehwag pummeled bowlers right from the word go and accumulated 8,586 Test and 8,273 ODI runs.
Sehwag has been associated with the MCC in the past. As their captain in the 2013 Champions County match against Yorkshire in Abu Dhabi, he scored a match-winning century. He also played for the Rest of the World against MCC during the 2014 Bicentenary match at Lord's to celebrate 200 years of the current Lord's Ground. Sehwag however, played just one Test match at the Home of Cricket – the 2002 clash with England - in which he scored 84 and 27.
John Stephenson, MCC Head of Cricket, said: “It is always a pleasure to welcome new Honorary Life Members to the Club, and Virender is no exception. He was a wonderfully entertaining player throughout his career and has also represented MCC with aplomb in the past, so is fully deserving of this honour.”
Also read: 5 shots which Sachin and Sehwag executed in a similar fashion
Virender Sehwag grew up wanting to be Sachin Tendulkar and moulded himself after the former Indian great. On the pitch and when batting alongside Sachin Tendulkar, Sehwag often matched the “little-master” in stroke play and on several occasions, could have easily been mistaken for the Mumbaikar. Slowly but surely, as Sehwag emerged from Sachin Tendulkar’s shadows, his individual brilliance began to show.
His triple-hundred in Multan is talked about just as much as his failed attempt to bring up a double-hundred with a six in the previous Tests. With an uncomplicated approach to batting, Virender Sehwag thrilled fans the world over. He was as much an asset to India’s limited-over plans as he was to their set up in the longer version of the game. His ability to score big in quick time was often the differentiator between a game drawn and won.
With a lackadaisical demeanor, his approach to the game was unmatched. When he finally hung up his boots, Sehwag walked away into the sunset with the Indian record for highest number of Test double-hundreds. He also came within just seven runs of becoming the first batsman ever to score three triple-hundreds in Test match cricket.
Since retiring from the game, Virender Sehwag has embraced social media and is a man of refreshing candour.
Click here to get India Squad for T20 World Cup 2024. Follow Sportskeeda for the T20 World Cup Schedule, Points Table, and news
