Virender Sehwag in Gwalior ODI against West Indies (Source: AFP)
India’s former World Cup-winning opener, Virender Sehwag, left both the spectators and commentators awestruck whenever he came out to bat in the ODIs. Apart from showing his batting prowess with two triple tons in Tests, Virender Sehwag left an unforgettable mark with his batting in the ODIs.
He scored 8,273 runs in 245 innings of the 251 games in his ODI career, with an average of 35.05 and a strike rate of 104.33, hitting 15 centuries and 38 half-centuries. The swashbuckling opener is also remembered for some of his iconic knocks that earned several memorable victories for India in 50-over cricket. Here’s a look at Virender Sehwag’s five best innings in ODIs.
Virender Sehwag’s five best innings in ODIs
219 vs West Indies - Indore ODI, 2011
After losing the third ODI against the West Indies by 16 runs, India faced them in the fourth ODI of the five-match series. Virender Sehwag was leading the hosts as the stand-in skipper. India won the toss and decided to bat first. The opening duo of Gautam Gambhir (67) and Virender Sehwag laid an outstanding foundation of 176 runs for the first wicket.
Furthermore, Sehwag continued to hit the Caribbean bowlers all over the park and scored his ODI career’s ODI double century. Besides this, he became the first-ever skipper in ODI history to smash a double ton, before being followed by Rohit Sharma six years later in 2017. On the back of Sehwag’s double ton, India posted 418 runs for the loss of five wickets in the allotted 50 overs.
While chasing the target, the visitors were bundled at 265 runs, and the Men in Blue won the game by 153 runs to take an unassailable lead of 3-1 in the five-match series. Skipper Virender Sehwag won the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his historic double hundred.
175 vs Bangladesh - Mirpur ODI, 2011 World Cup
The co-hosts India and Bangladesh were facing each other in the tournament opener of the ODI World Cup 2011. The game was played at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on February 19, 2011. The hosts’ skipper Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and asked India to bat first.
Batting first, India had a decent opening start of 69 runs by the opening duo of Sachin Tendulkar (28) and Virender Sehwag before the former was dismissed in the 11th over. Virender Sehwag went on to smash a blistering knock of 175 runs off just 140 balls, with 14 fours and five sixes. His knock, followed by Virat Kohli’s 100, helped India score a big total of 370 runs for the loss of five wickets in the allotted 50 overs.
Meanwhile, Virender Sehwag also joined the former legendary India World Cup-winning captain, Kapil Dev, in the list of batters with the highest individual score for India in World Cup history. India ended up winning this game against Bangladesh by 87 runs, with Sehwag getting named ‘Player of the Match’.
119 vs Pakistan - Karachi ODI, Asia Cup 2008
It was the time when the geopolitical tensions hadn’t hit the cricketing relations between India and Pakistan, and both teams used to play in each other’s country. India were taking on the hosts and the arch-rivals, Pakistan in the fifth match of the Asia Cup 2008 in Karachi.
Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik won the toss and decided to bat first. Malik’s captaincy knock (125 runs off 119 balls) helped the Men in Green to post 299 runs for the loss of four wickets in the first innings. Later in the second innings, India’s run chase was led by Virender Sehwag, alongside Suresh Raina (84).
The Sehwag-Raina duo stitched an excellent 208-run partnership for the second wicket after India lost Gautam Gambhir early at the score of just 12 runs. Sehwag carried the Indian chase after Raina’s dismissal off Iftikhar Anjum in the 28th over. The swashbuckling opener smashed 119 runs off just 95 balls, with 12 fours and five sixes to help India successfully chase the target in just 42.1 overs, scoring 301 runs for the loss of four wickets and winning the game by six wickets.
100* vs West Indies - Rajkot ODI, 2002
India and the West Indies were taking on each other in the third ODI of the seven-match series in 2002. The hosts’ skipper Sourav Ganguly won the toss and asked the Caribbean side to bat first. The visitors posted a score of 300 runs for the loss of five wickets in the allotted overs.
While chasing the target, India had a swashbuckling opening start of 196 runs in 26.8 overs by the opening pair of skipper Sourav Ganguly (72) and Virender Sehwag before the rain interruption. Sehwag had smashed 114 runs off just 82 balls, with 17 fours and two sixes to take India’s score to 200 runs for the loss of just one wicket in 27.1 overs.
Eventually, the Men in Blue won the game by 81 runs according to the DLS method, and Virender Sehwag won the ‘Player of the Match’ award.
108 vs New Zealand - Napier ODI, 2002
India and New Zealand faced off in the second ODI of the seven-match series in December 2002. The then-India skipper Sourav Ganguly won the toss in Napier and asked the hosts to bat first. The Blackcaps posted 254 runs for the loss of nine wickets in the allotted 50 overs.
While chasing the target, India suffered a horrific collapse, except for the resilience shown by Virender Sehwag. He scored 108 runs off 119 balls, with nine fours and two sixes. However, his century went in vain as India were bundled out at 219 runs in 43.4 overs, losing the game by 35 runs. However, in an interesting line of developments, Virender Sehwag won the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his valiant knock despite India’s defeat.
