“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.
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.
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?
V4viru
Guest
The scoreboard read 295. India were just 5 runs away from breaking a run barrier. None before, not even Sunil Gavaskar, had reached any where near the milestone. Any one else would have chosen the safer route – cover the remaining distance in five strides. But not Virender Sehwag. He settled the issue with a six ! Thats Sehwag ! Nobody, not Brian Lara, not Sanath Jayasuriya, not Sachin Tendulkar, not Adam Gilchrist, not Viv Richards batted as fast as Sehwag. If they were the Merc and BMW of the cricket circuit, Sehwag was the jet engine propelled Ferrari.
VRcric
Guest
Viv is also a big fan of Great sehwag. He has said that there would never be another Sehwag . Tendulkar is the greatest cricketer not only batsman & one of the greatest sportsman of the world.(according to TIME magazine).
VRcric
Guest
He is a legend. Sehwag has destroyed the oz bowling attack many times. No one can question about his greatness.
fp11
Guest
I read your comment earlier today and am still laughing!
Osmond
Guest
I dig Sehwag a lot, but strike rates and average aren't everything (if they were, Viv Richards would be considered a better one day batsman than Tendulkar ..oh hang on.). Greenidge made his debut before helmets, batted on bigger grounds with smaller bats, different pitches. And as Liam pointed out above, Greenidge was an opener capable taking the game away from bowlers. I (narrowly) rate him the best opener in my time watching cricket.
Stumpy
Guest
Rob Quiney is better than Sehwag. He scored the best 9 in test history.
rajendra prasad
Roar Rookie
Greenidge had an ODI strike rate of 64. Test strike rate seems unavailable.
rajendra prasad
Roar Rookie
Can you please elaborate as to how bailey is better than sehwag. And I am talking about opening
Liam
Guest
Not much a fan of the clickbait heading, but while I thought the question a little silly, as I read your article the idea grew as I read. As a player, I think it's something of a bridge too far to say Sehwag changed the game for openers, because it is only those with short memories who forget that Gordon Greenidge was also an opener capable of taking the game away from the bowlers in a like fashion, as was his partner Desmond Haynes. What Sehwag was, though, was a batsman who should be counted among the best of his generation, who retired a year or so too late; his skills waned away from India towards the end, and that is a profound shame.
Andy Hill
Guest
I disagree, bailey is better then sehwag
Swampy
Guest
He certainly could take a game away in a hurry. Threw his wicket away on many other occasions. His average against Australia was only 41 which is a bit low. I wouldn't rate him as one of the all time greats but he was certainly the fore runner of the modern fast scoring batsman. I think he was the first batsman to score a double century in an ODI. I watched that game and the Windies basically gave him the honour. He must have been dropped five times and they mis-fielded at every opportunity and bowled absolute pies to him. Sehwag was probably unfortunate he was a generation early - I imagine he could have made millions from T20.