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Virender Sehwag, simply the best

12th February, 2016
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Virender Sehwag was one of the bowlers to participate in the bowl-out at the 2007 World T20. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
Roar Rookie
12th February, 2016
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“To bat as fearlessly as Sehwag, you need to have great confidence in your ability and the self belief that you are greater than any bowler, any attack”.

This is former Australian cricket team captain Ian Chappell talking about Virender Sehwag and the way he batted.

Viru, as he is affectionately called by his teammates, has a Test batting average of 49 and has scored more than 8500 runs. But compared to numerous other cricketers of the current generation or any other, it was his strike rate of 85 that stood out.

This simply meant that when he scored a century his team could get ahead of the game and would have more time to bowl out the opposition.

When he gets into attack mode, he was unstoppable. Opposing captains had to think of containment rather than getting him out. This also immensely helped the other batsmen since they could take their time to settle in.

Sehwag changed the perception with which openers are looked at.

Openers are expected to ‘stay’ and take the shine off the new ball. If you look at Test teams around the world, there are players who are more aggressive than what Test match cricket and critics demand.

David Warner is a prime example. Warner started out as a T20 specialist. He is now arguably the best Test batsman in the planet.

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There have been absolutely great openers in Test cricket. My question is who was the best among them?

Cricketers must be evaluated based on the effect he has on the outcome of the match.

Indeed the outcome must be favourable to the respective team. That is where Sehwag really stands out.

As I pointed out earlier, his Test career average of 49 suggests he was extremely consistent. But his extraordinary strike rate makes him a serious match winner.

I still distinctly remember his 201 not out against Sri Lanka in 2008 where he contributed around 60 per cent of the team total while setting up victory for his side. This was against a strong bowling attack, although you wouldn’t have known it.

There have been several innings like this where he absolutely decimated what was served up to him.

He has also scored centuries in Australia. This is one of the biggest challenges in cricket and is important for every batsmen to prove he is elite.

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Based on all this, he has a strong and compelling case to be considered as one of the best openers of all time. What do you think Roarers?

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