Away average is also 51 (59 in Australia, 40 in England, 51 in WI, 91 in Pakistan).
Averages 52 in matches won (24), 56 in matches won abroad (12) - 63 without Bangladesh (amongst the very few whose average actually increases when you remove Bangladesh).
Has won 4 MoM awards in matches India has won; 7 MoMs in all.
Scores 78 runs every hundred balls, more than anybody in contemporary cricket today - astonishing, when you consider his overall averages. This strike rate is also the highest ever for a batsman of his stature, after Adam Gilchrist.
His last eleven centuries have all been scores above 150.
Has scored 2 triple centuries, the only one to do so besides Bradman and Lara in 132 years of Test cricket.
His second triple hundred (319 vs SA in 304 balls; 300 off 278 balls) is the fastest of all time in terms of balls faced.
Has scored 25 or less in 47% of his 114 innings, a failure rate lower than Gavaskar (48), Ganguly (48) and Laxman (51) - very surprising, when you consider Sehwag's reputation as a carefree risk-taker. As an opener, Sehwag's failure rate is lower than Greenidge (51), Haynes (53), Gayle (48), Gooch (50), Jayasuriya (55) and Gibbs (52). In fact, only Hayden (42) is ahead of him (and everybody else) on that count.
Virender Sehwag is the biggest blind spot in the history of Indian cricket. The purists are convinced his technique is flawed, yet he has consistently averaged over 50 in Tests. Fans still think his game is more suited to limited overs cricket, yet he has changed the parameters of opening the innings - a time-honoured specialised Test position (despite fundamentally being a middle-order batsman before being asked to open in Tests). Aficionados believe no one can last long at the crease without moving his feet to the fast bowlers but Sehwag has made bigger Test hundreds than anyone in Indian cricket history. Commentators believe he is sorted out often by bowlers, yet he keeps winning matches single-handedly. Critics believe that he is risky and not solid as an opener, yet his failure rate (scores of 25 or less) is lower than many of the greatest openers in Test history. The media constantly refers to him as Tendulkar's "clone" (the main reason for the blind spot), yet Sehwag has won twice the number of Tests for India on his own steam despite playing less than half the number of tests Tendulkar has. People question Sehwag's shot selection, yet batting almost invariably appears far more difficult when he is replaced at the crease. Pundits believe he has an unevolved cricketing brain that revels in mindless slogging, but his interviews reveal a remarkably original (and extraordinarily simple) way to look at batting. His method of predominantly playing beside the ball rather than behind it (and succeeding to this extent) has brought new thought processes to coaching camps everywhere - and has much to do with an uncluttered, fearless mind as much as hand-eye coordination. On the field, Sehwag is a genre of his own, as he redefines all understanding of "risk" and "percentage shots"; off it more anecdotes are told about him than any Indian cricketer in history. That unbelievable rate of scoring runs (amazingly without compromising on the consistency) doesn't just give his team more time to push for a win (and occasionally struggle to draw!) but also lifts the entire squad quicker and surer than anything can. His sample size of 66 Tests may be lower than most on this list, but in the context of his achievements in proportion to that (and keeping in mind that even this is a significant sample size as per Test history), it is time to recognise him as the legend that he already is and realise that if he has even a couple of more years like 2008 to follow, he will top every list, including this one.
| India had lost the first test by the massive margin of an innings and 269 runs thanks to the lethal bowling partnership between Muralitharan and the new find Mendis. In this, the second Test, there was considerable anxiety about how the out-of-form Indian batting line-up would cope. India won the toss, chose to bat. Sehwag strode out to open with Gambhir and mayhem followed. Every single bowler was attacked mercilessly, fearlessly. The field was pushed back, and Sehwag was not out at 91 at lunch - India 151 for no | loss in 29 overs. Rain and bad light interrupted play thereafter and sporadic intervals of play saw India being pushed back. 4 wickets for 11 runs and Sri Lanka were back. At close, India was 214 for 4 with Sehwag on 128. Next morning, Laxman departed at 278 but Sehwag continued blazing away. Then at 317, four wickets fell again for twelve runs and India was all out for 329. Sehwag had carried his bat through for 201 off 231 balls with 22 fours and 4 sixes. Between them, Mendis and Muralitharan still got | 8 wickets but they were also hammered for 210 runs, the majority from Sehwag (Mendis went for 70 off 77 balls; Murali went for 58). Sri Lanka got close to India's total, and in the second innings Sehwag got another 50 (in 52 balls) as India made 269 and then dismissed Sri Lanka for 136. Harbhajan got ten wickets in the match, and he was not the only one inspired by what had happened in India's first innings. And this wasn't the first or last time Sehwag lifted his whole team with just one performance. |
| On the eve of the third day's play, Ravi Shastri asked Sehwag what he thought of the match situation. England was 247 ahead in the second innings with 7 wickets in hand. "We are in control," Sehwag said, without batting an eyelid. Seeing Shastri's incredulous expression, Sehwag elaborated that the pitch was not that difficult and India could chase whatever was set. After particularly slow going between lunch and tea (when England made 57 in two hours), India was set 387 - which would be the 4th highest winning total ever if India made it. When the Indian openers | came out, survival was on everybody's mind (especially after the heavy weather England had made of the scoring). Not Sehwag's. The first 50 runs came in 33 balls - Sehwag making 42 of those. The colour had begun to drain off English faces. By the time, India reached hundred, panic had set in and it never left, even after Sehwag's soft dismissal for 83 (off 68 balls; 11 fours, 4 sixes). In 1 hour 40 minutes, he had single-handedly turned a match on its head, which had seen 868 runs and 29 wickets in about 23 hours of play before this. Gambhir's 66 and an | unbroken partnership of 163 between Tendulkar (101*) and Yuvraj (85*) took India to one of its most famous victories, but it was Sehwag who rightly got the man-of-the-match award. Later, Sehwag said that he had planned to play cautiously initially but the English kept on bowling outside the off stump and he just couldn't help hitting out, despite trying really hard not to! As his captain Dhoni said - if not for Sehwag's innings, the Indian team would have only thought of survival. |
| As the Indian opening batsmen came out to commence the much-awaited new Test series against Pakistan in their backyard (after 15 years), the mood was cautious. Big occasion. Quite a bowling attack - Shoaib Akhtar, Md. Sami, Shabbir Ahmed, Saqlain Mustaq, Abdul Razzaq. Two hours later, the score was 104-0, with Sehwag on 76. India lost its first wicket at 160 (Akash Chopra 42) and second at 173 (Dravid 6). Tendulkar joined Sehwag and the party was back on track. At tea, India | was 228 for 2 in 57 overs - Sehwag 155*. The 300 came in 76 overs and Sehwag's 200 in 222 balls - amongst the fastest of all time. Shoaib Akhtar had cracked up, Saqlain Mushtaq would never play Test cricket after this match. At close, Sehwag was 221* out of India's 356 in 90 overs. Visions of India's first ever triple hundred did not deter him, as he added 71 to his score in the first session the next day. Nerves? He brought up his 300 with a six immediately after lunch, off 364 balls - | the fastest in contemporary cricket history. 38 fours, 6 sixes. He was out soon after, with the score at 509 - having laid the foundation for a massive score (675 for 5 declared). Pakistan scored substantially in the first innings (407) but could not take the relentless pressure thereafter to save the match. Sehwag's strike rate had also ensured that India had enough time to bowl Pakistan out twice. |
| India have been beaten badly in the first Test and nerves are taut when the second Test begins. Australia dismissed for 235 on a pitch assisting the spinners emphatically from day one. India end day one at 28 for 1, Yuvraj dismissed, Sehwag and nightwatchman Pathan at the crease. Next morning, Sehwag does the bulk of the scoring with minimal risk. Pathan gets out for 14 at 83. Sehwag and Dravid steady the | innings and just when Sehwag begins to take charge again, Dravid falls for 26 (at 178). But Sehwag keeps gaining in momentum despite Ganguly and Laxman falling cheaply. At 233, Sehwag is dismissed by Warne - for 155 off 221 balls (strike rate of 70, one of his slower hundreds!) In the second innings, India is set 229 to win - by no means a cinch in these conditions. With just three overs to go before close of | play on the fourth day, Sehwag walks out again to open the innings. Survival on his mind now at least? Right. He proceeds to hammer McGrath for three boundaries leaving no doubt in anyone's mind about where he thinks this match is going. Tragically, the last day is rained-out depriving us of another solo Sehwag match-winning show perhaps. |
| Australia, very uncharacteristically, 0-1 behind in a home series for the first time in years. The Boxing Day third Test likely to be a tense one for both sides. India bat first; very steady start from Sehwag and Chopra. 89 for 0 at lunch - Sehwag on 51. No nerves after lunch either, another 14 overs go by till Chopra falls at 141 for 48. No problem. The in-form Dravid joins Sehwag and the good times continue. Sehwag gets his first hundred against Australia off 144 balls and looks good for more. Dravid looks like he's carrying on from | Adelaide (233 and 73* in the last test). Both comfortably keeping the score board moving - score crosses 250 for 1. Indian fans rubbing their eyes, try to keep calm. At 278, Dravid gets out against the run of play. Sehwag immediately hammers two boundaries as if to shrug off his dismissal. And then, Tendulkar goes for a golden duck. Sehwag continues savaging the ball and with his score at 195 goes for a six and gets caught at the boundary line (25 fours and 5 sixes at a strike rate of 84). By the time the 63,000-strong audience | has finished giving him a standing ovation, the game has changed. The next 6 wickets fall for 55 runs through some loose shots and inexplicably squander away the incredible position. Australia come out and bat strongly, get a 192-run lead and put India under pressure. India go on to lose the Test by 9 wickets. This is the first time the cricket world saw the mirage of ridiculously simple batsmanship Sehwag would inadvertently show his team-mates. |
HONOURABLE MENTION:
| With India 1-0 ahead, Pakistan fought back in the last Test with a massive 570 (thanks to Younis Khan's 267 and Inzamam's 182). India opened with Sehwag and Gambhir, with the former taking charge in his inimitable manner. It was 50-0 in the tenth over, Sehwag got his own fifty in 56 balls. Gambhir | was out at 98 for just 24. Thereafter, till the score reached 337, it was all Sehwag, the others were just formal presences to keep him legally at the crease. And he had made 201 of that, in 262 balls, with 28 fours and 2 sixes. After Sehwag's dismissal, Laxman (with 79* - the next highest score) took the | score to 449. But Pakistan batted brilliantly again, and set India 383 to win. Sehwag and Gambhir again had a good start; they put on 87 in 24 overs when Sehwag was run out for 38 (off 53 balls). The match completely changed thereafter and India collapsed for 214 and lost the match. |
