Virender Sehwag

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"Sehwag" redirects here. For the Jat clan, see Sihag.

Virender Sehwag

Personal information
Full name	Virender Sehwag
Born	20 October 1978 (age 34) Najafgarh, Delhi, India
Nickname	Viru, Nawab of Najafgarh(Haryana)
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right arm off break
Role	Opening batsman, occasional offspinner
International information
National side	India
Test debut(cap 239)	3 November 2001 v South Africa
Last Test	13 December 2012 v England
ODI debut(cap 228)	1 April 1999 v Pakistan
Last ODI	3 January 2013 v Pakistan
ODI shirt no.	- [1]
T20I debut (cap 9)	1 December 2006 v South Africa
Last T20I	2 October 2012 v South Africa
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1997 – present	Delhi
2003	Leicestershire
2008 – present	Delhi Daredevils
Career statistics
Competition	Test	ODI	FC	LA
Matches	102	251	167	321
Runs scored	8,559	8,273	13,196	10,226
Batting average	50.05	35.05	48.87	34.54
100s/50s	23/32	15/38	38/50	16/55
Top score	319	219	319	219
Balls bowled	3,731	4,392	8,470	5,997
Wickets	40	96	105	142
Bowling average	47.35	40.13	41.84	36.23
5 wickets in innings	1	0	1	0
10 wickets in match	0	n/a	0	n/a
Best bowling	5/104	4/6	5/104	4/6
Catches/stumpings	85/–	93/–	144/–	117/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 6 January 2013

Virender Sehwag  pronunciation (help·info) (born 20 October 1978), affectionately known as Viru and the Nawab of Najafgarh, also called theZen master of modern cricket,^[2][3] or the Viv Richards of this era by columnists,^[4] is one of the leading batsmen in the Indian cricket team. Sehwag is an aggressive right-handed opening batsman and a part-time right-arm off-spin bowler. He played his first One Day International in 1999 and joined the Indian Test cricket team in 2001. In April 2009, Sehwag became the only Indian to be honoured as the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World for his performance in 2008,^[5] subsequently becoming the first player of any nationality to retain the award for 2009.^[6]

Sehwag holds multiple records including the highest score made by an Indian in Test cricket (319), which was also the fastest triple century in the history of international cricket (reached 300 off only 278 balls) as well as the fastest 250 by any batsman (in 207 balls against Sri Lanka on 3 December 2009 at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai). His other innings of 309 and 293 are also the second and third best by any Indian player. Sehwag also holds the distinction of being one of four batsmen in the world to have ever surpassed 300 twice in Test cricket, and the only one to score two triple centuries and take a five-wicket innings haul.^[7] In March 2009, Sehwag smashed the fastest century ever scored by an Indian in ODI cricket, from 60 balls.^[8] On 8 December 2011, he hit his maiden double century in ODI cricket, against West Indies, becoming the second batsman after Sachin Tendulkar to reach the landmark.^[9] His score remains the highest individual score in ODI cricket – 219 off 149 balls.^[10][11] He is the only player in world to score a double hundred in ODI and a triple hundred in Test Cricket.^[12]

Sehwag was appointed as vice-captain of the Indian team under Rahul Dravid in October 2005 but due to poor form, he was later replaced by V. V. S. Laxman in December 2006 as Test vice-captain. In January 2007, Sehwag was dropped from the ODI team and later from the Test team as well.^[13] During his term as vice-captain, Sehwag skippered the team in place of injured Dravid in 2 ODIs and 1 Test. Following his return to form in 2008 and the retirement of Anil Kumble, Sehwag has been reappointed as the vice-captain for both Tests and ODIs. By early 2009, Sehwag had reestablished himself as one of the best performing batsmen in ODI cricket.^[14] In early February a rift had been drawn between the Indian Skipper (MS Dhoni) and Virender Sehwag, but it had been solved. Virender Sehwag was dropped from the Asia Cup squad on fitness grounds, but after an improved performance in the Indian Premier League, Sehwag is making a comeback in Indian ODI side to play Sri Lankan series.^[15]

Early years

Sehwag was born in a Jat family from Haryana.^[16][17][18] The son of a grain merchant, Sehwag spent his childhood in a bungalow in a joint family, with siblings, uncles, aunts and sixteen cousins. Though now settled in New Delhi, the Sehwag family hails from Haryana. Sehwag was the third of four children born to father Krishan and mother Krishna Sehwag, with two older sisters Manju and Anju, and younger brother Vinod. His father attributes his interest in cricket to a toy bat which he was given when he was seven months old. He attended Arora Vidya School in Delhi, and pestered his parents to let him play cricket, on the basis that he was not academically gifted.^[19] His father tried to end his career when he broke a tooth as a child in 1990, but Sehwag evaded the ban with the help of his mother.^[20] Later he attended Jamia Milia Islamia for graduation.