Times when world witnessed the real ‘jaat’- Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag is the ‘Jaat’ from Delhi who is known for his brutal power hitting. He had a very unique batting style which was very uncanny. Taking his right hand batting stance, Sehwag never took time to settle, he was a firm believer of transferring the pressure to bowler from the word ‘go’. While other players focused on perfectly timing the ball by getting their footwork right, it was Sehwag, in that era, who showed the world how batting was a mind game and not a game of mere athleticism. Fielders were always hesitant in putting their hand in the punches that came from Sehwag’s bat. One could always tell how much he enjoyed his rhythm in the 22 yard strip. We have often seen clips when he would hymn a musical and casually hit a six, as if it was a piece of cake. 

Spectators lovingly called him Viru, Nawab of Najafgarh or Sultan of Multan. They used to come in large numbers to support their hero.

Sehwag was way ahead of time in terms of strike rate. What batters are trying to achieve now is something Sehwag had already done two decades ago. In test matches, when other players used to take an entire day or even days to score a ton, Sehwag would achieve the same milestone in a single session. 

Sehwag was a player who had the ‘Jigra’, he never feared to lose his wicket and that’s what made him different. In 2004, India were playing against Pakistan and it was Sehwag who was playing at 295*. While other players would think of securing their ton with singles and doubles, it was Sehwag, who stepped out and smashed a six to reach the milestone. This was a testament of how he loved to play fearless cricket. 

Presently, he is a member of National Anti Doping Agency Under Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and is a regular player in Legends League. He is also the ambassador of Delhi Premeir

Early life and Domestic career 

Sehwag was Born on 20 October, 1978 in Najafgarh and played domestic cricket for Delhi  from 1997 till 2014. In 2015, he changed his domestic team and played for Haryana but that too but for one year only. 

During his early days, he attended Arora Vidya School and later he went to Jamia Milia Islamia for his graduation. He used to practice under AN Sharma sir in west Delhi. 

During his initial year, Sehwag faced a lot of criticism and was on the receiving end of a lot of nasty comments from other players, but that was just a stepping stone as those incidents empowered him to become a better player. 

He made his debut for Ranji Trophy in 1997, and got selected for Duleep Trophy and North Zone in 1998. In 1999, got selected for Board President XI. Later, In 2004 and 2005 he captained north zone to victory in Deodhar Trophy as well. He captained the Delhi Ranji Trophy Team on several occasions as well. 

International career

Virender Sehwag was a hero in making and the Indian selectors were quite aware of that. They picked him in the Indian Squad as he made his ODI debut on 1 April, 1999 V Pakistan. Roughly Two years later he made his first test appearance, that was on 3 November, 2001 V South Africa. On 1 December, 2006 V South Africa he made his T20I debut as well. 

Sehwag was in the squad that won the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy, 2007 ICC T20 World Cup and 2011 ICC World Cup. He is the only batsman to score 7500 plus runs in tests and ODI. He also holds the joint record of scoring 2 Triple centuries. Other players who have achieved the same benchmark are Don Bradman, Brian Lara and

Sehwag is the Fastest batter to score 150, 200, 250 , 300 runs in an innings in tests. Not only that, he is the Fastest batter to reach 3000, 4000, 7000 test cricket. 

Another distinctive record that Sehwag holds is that he has hit Most number sixes in test career,that is, 91. He is one of the two players to score a double hundred in one day and triple hundred in a test, the other one is Chris Gayle. He has record of scoring Highest runs by any Indian in test cricket, that is, 319. 

 Sehwag was the fastest player to hit a triple century.  He was the Vice captain of the Indian Team for a long time.  However, In 2006, he was dropped from  the national squad for a home series against WI but was later retained in the 2007 World Cup.

 Sehwag played his Last T20I on 2 October, 2012 V South Africa, his last ODI on 3 January, 2013 V Pakistan and his last test on 2 March, 2013 V Australia.  

Awards and achievements 

• Cricket fraternity and government of India immensely respected Sehwag for his talent. They recognised his contribution towards the game on various occasions. 
• In 2002 and 2010, Sehwag received the Arjuna Award and Padma Shree respectively. 
• In 2007, he was felicitated with the Polly Umrigar Award for International Cricketer of the year. 
• He was Wisden Leading Cricketer in the world on a couple of occasions , that is in 2008, 2009. 
•  He became ICC Test Player of the Year in 2010. 
• He was even named in World ODI XI in 2008, 2009 and 2011
• Ddca, his state association, honored him by naming a gate of Arun Jaitley Stadium after him.
• He was the First Indian to be honored with Wisden Cricketer in the World. 
• In 2023, his name was Inducted in ICC Hall of Fame. 

Virender Sehwag in IPL 

Sehwag started his IPL stint with his home team, Delhi Daredevils. He played for them from 2008 till 2013 and even led the team. In 2014 and 2015, he switched sides as he started playing for Kings XI Punjab. Overall, he played 114 matches in IPL and scored 2,728 runs with a strike rate of