If fearlessness was a person, it would be the Sultan of Multan-Virender Sehwag. In the days when T20 was not born, a run rate of above 5.5 would be considered huge to achieve. In these old days, when the game was played at the pace of local train, this man gave the cricketing world the experience of riding through a superfast bullet train.
Author:- Ashwin Jangam (Cricket Analyst, host, poet, entertainer)
Insta I'd:- cricket_creativity
If fearlessness was a person, it would be the Sultan of Multan-Virender Sehwag. In the days when T20 was not born, a run rate of above 5.5 would be considered huge to achieve. In these old days, when the game was played at the pace of local train, this man gave the cricketing world the experience of riding through a superfast bullet train.
The Najafgarh born first had an encounter with the bat at a mere age of 7 months when he played with a toy bat. No one knew, that he would toy the best bowlers in the world with his bat in the years to come. Initially, it was his cousins who used to be hit for boundaries off Viru's bat. Later on, it became a regular job of all the international bowlers. He left the world awestruck with his power hitting.
His power-hitting without much footwork was a result of his strong arms. The credit for his strong arms goes to his childhood coach Amar Nath Sharma. The coach tied sandbags on the bat to make it heavy while Viru practised. Initially, it led to difficulties in Viru's backlift, but eventually, it resulted in gaining much-needed power. Result of which could be seen in matches he played, where he would hit a six with ease and score his runs through boundaries.
He continued his hitting at every next level he was selected to play for. His consistent for Delhi in the domestic circuit earned him an India call up in 1999. But he could not impress the world in his debut as he got out scoring 1 run, resulting in him dropping from the side for almost the next 2 years. He was selected for the zimbabwe series in 2000-2001 when he scored his first half-century and in the year to follow when he was promoted to play as an opener, he scored a century against Srilanka. This was the third fastest century by an Indian till then, a record he broke while scoring a 60 ball century against New Zealand in 2009.
He proved to be a solid opening partner in the 2003 world cup campaign for India. He complimented Sachin Tendulkar very well throughout the tournament. His innings of 83 in the final of the 2003 world cup against the mighty Aussies, was the only fighting knock for India that day. India lost the match, ending up as runners up in the tournament. But his innings was applauded by many, due to him being a lone warrior of the match for India.
In 2004, he became the first triple centurion for our the Men in Blue. He brutally thrashed all the Pakistan bowlers in the Multan Test match. The spectators were unsure whether it was a test match or an Odi. He reached his triple century hitting a six off Saqlain Mushtaq, despite everyone warning him to reach the landmark without risking it much. But that's how the man was, fearless. The innings made him remember forever as "Sultan of Multan". In 2008, he scored another triple century with an innings of 319 in Chennai, against South Africa, making him the only person after Sir Don Bradman and Brian Lara to reach the landmark of 2 triple centuries. In the next year, he scored 293 against Sri Lanka to get dismissed trying to hit for a six on long-on. He just missed becoming the first human to reach the landmark of scoring 3 triple centuries, but little did he care about it.
He played a crucial role in India's limited over matches. He was a crucial member do the team winning the 2007 T20 world cup and the 2011 ODI world cup. He decided to play in the 2007 T20 world cup when senior members decided they would not play is, and his opening in the tournament India a good start. In the 2011 world cup, he launched the attack in Bangladesh in the inaugural match by scoring 175 runs. In the same world cup, he started the Indian innings with a boundary in all the matches. His contribution with the bat as well as the ball helped India clinch the title in both these tournaments.
After the 2011 world cup, he continued his onslaught on bowlers silencing his critics who were keen on his retirement. In 2012, he became the second person after Sachin Tendulkar to score a double hundred in ODI. Also, he continued his services in IPL for Kings eleven Punjab where he scored 122 off 58 balls in IPL 2014.
Increasing age never reduced his speed and hunger for scoring runs. Playing for India, he broke many new records. He was the fastest centurion of India till 2013 when his record was broken by Virat Kohli. Sehwag has the record of scoring fastest 200,250 and 300 in test cricket. He had the record of the highest individual score by an Indian of 219, which was later broken by Rohit Sharma. He is the first player to have a double century in ODI and a triple century in tests. All in all, the 22 times test centurion, and 15 times ODI centurion has always been a great servant of Indian cricket.
Courtesy : ESPN CRIC INFO There have been power hitters in the game, there will be even more such hitters. But one hitter who changed the way this game should be paced will always be Sehwag. A lot of bowlers describe Sehwag as a nightmare. His effortless hitting, without much footwork and his fearless attitude, has won India many matches and has won more than a billion hearts worldwide. Even today, the young hitters across the globe look up to this youngster of 43 years for his hard-hitting. Sehwag, turning 43 continues to serve Indian cricket in many ways. He remains an inspiration for many among generations of people playing cricket. We wish him to live a long, happy and healthy life, and we also hope to find good power hitters, with the best power hitter being himself.
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