Hyderabad: On this day (October 20) in 1978, Nawab of Najafgarh, Virender Sehwag, was born. He turns 41 today. A swashbuckling opener who played the game in his own right and carved a niche for himself, thanks to his unique style of scoring runs where technique and footwork have hardly anything to do with his batting.
It was all about hand-eye coordination that propelled Virender Sehwag to fame as a dashing opening batsman. His approach to the game was simple- 'see the ball, hit the ball', irrespective of pitch conditions, be it home or abroad.
It was in the year 2001-02 when a diminutive Sehwag drew a comparison with batting legend Sachin Tendulkar for his exploits for Delhi Ranji team in domestic cricket.
In his very first Test for India in Bloemfontein, a 20-year-old pocket-size batsman walked on to the field in front of a famed pace bowling attack comprising of Shaun Pollock, Jacques Kallis, Makhaya Ntini, Lance Klusener, Nantie Hayward and spinner Nicky Boje.
Broke the stereotype
Known for his alluring eyesight, Sehwag changed the outlook of Indian openers in his very appearance in Test cricket. He broke the stereotype associated with Test opener- stick to the crease and help middle-order batsmen to score run outshining the polish of the new ball.
But Sehwag has had some other plan in mind for Indian cricket. After magnificent 195 off 233 balls at Melbourne Cricket Ground against Australia, he took the world by storm during India's historic Pakistan tour in 2003-2004.
Owns the record of the quickest triple ton
He went on to score the quickest triple ton in Test cricket history, taking just 278 balls and eventually earned him the famous moniker 'Multan ki Sultan' (The King of Multan).
Four years later, he smashed 319 against South Africa at M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. In the process, he became only the third batsman, after Don Bradman and Brian Lara, to play 300 runs innings in Test cricket history.
Battle of Lanka
After the highs at home, a tough Sri Lanka tour followed. When rest of the team was struggling to find a clue to Ajantha Mendis's spin mystery, Sehwag showed great composure scoring 201 off 231 balls at Galle. Sehwag finished India's innings unbeaten as India were bundled out for 329. Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble did the artwork with the ball and earned India a comfortable 170 runs victory.
In 2009 home series, he nearly made it to three triple centuries, slamming 293 at the Brabourne Stadium against Sri Lanka.
Fall of an empire
From November 2009 and October 2010, Sehwag hit five half-centuries and six tons in 15 innings. However, after the 2010 home series against South Africa Sehwag's form saw a sharp decline.
But he still had entertaining innings to gift to his fans. In December 2011, he became the second Indian batsman after Sachin Tendulkar to score a one-day double ton, going past Sachin Tendulkar's 200 not out to make a world-record 219 against West Indies in Indore.
But his Test career was far from his heydays. He scored two more tons against Sri Lanka and New Zealand but failed to display his gutsy form thereafter.
His last hurrah in Test was 117 against England in Ahmedabad in 2012. It took him 30 innings to score this ton. His continues failure in Test cricket saw him getting dropped from the team amidst India's home series against Australia which the former won 4-0 and Sehwag finally hung his boots in 2015.
