But whose idea was it to have Sehwag bat in the open? This answer may surprise many people.
A few years ago, in a chat with former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, Sehwag revealed who had suggested to the Indian team management that Veeru (who was mentioned by other players and Viru, affectionately known to fans, pushed up the order.
“Saat number pe tu kya kar raha tha? (What were you doing when you were batting at No. 7),” Shoaib asked Sehwag, referring to a match between India and Pakistan in 1999 when Shoaib dismissed him.
“I was hitting picks all the time,” Sehwag replied.
To this, Shoaib further asked: “Whose idea was it for you to open the batting?”
“Yes, that idea Zaheer Khan ka, he made the suggestion to (then captain) Sourav Gangulyhe asked me to open the game,” Sehwag revealed.
Sehwag and Akhtar after the 2017 Champions Trophy.
Sehwag started to feature in the ODI order in July 2001 during the three-match series against Sri Lanka and New Zealand when Sachin Tendulkar was injured, resulting in Sehwag being thrust into line-up with Ganguly. He made his Test debut in 2002 during India’s tour of England.
Since taking over as an opener, Sehwag has never looked back and has gone on to become one of the most successful opening batsmen in the history of cricket.
He played 104 Tests and 251 ODIs and was a member of India’s winning teams at the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup.
Sehwag also played 19 T20Is and scored 394 runs, including two fifties.
In ODIs, he scored 8273 runs at an average of 35.05, including 15 centuries and 38 fifties.
In the Tests, he scored 8586 runs at an average of 49.34, including 23 centuries and 32 fifties.
