Virender Sehwag was one of the most successful openers in the history of Indian cricket and his contribution to the team shall never be forgotten. Widely acknowledged as one of the most destructive openers in the history of the sport, Sehwag is the only Indian to score two triple centuries in Tests. He was best known for his aggressive and explosive batting approach that helped him face bowlers without any apprehension.
On the other hand, he did have quite a few chinks in his armour during his playing days. One of his biggest weaknesses was his early movement. Yes, since he was able to move across his stumps a tad early, the bowlers were able to exploit the batter’s frailties in the first place. The bowlers forced Sehwag to make mistakes, thus making him vulnerable to getting bowled or dismissed for leg before wicket.
Sehwag literally had no fuss in playing on flat pitches but did have weakness in tackling the lateral movement of the ball. The seamers who possess a great deal of experience were able to generate a telling movement off the pitch to ruffle Sehwag’s feathers. History tells us that the bowlers were able to exploit Sehwag’s lack of footwork making him vulnerable to edges or dismissals.
Naved-Ul-Hasan names the easiest Indian batter to dismiss
Former Pakistan paceman Naved-ul-Hasan made the headlines after he picked Virender Sehwag as the easiest Indian batsman to dismiss. Naved-ul-Hasan who represented Pakistan from 2003 to 2010, recalled an incident from the 2005 Test series against Team India where he got rid of the Nawab of Najafgarh quite comfortably after sledging him.
“There was a match where Sehwag was playing well. I was the player of the tournament. The series was such that we were trailing 2-0. It was a best-five [six] series. In one of the games, Sehwag was hitting big. They almost scored 300. I asked Inzy bhai to give me the ball. I bowled a slow bouncer,” Naved-ul-Hasan added in a statement.
The former Pakistani paceman went up to Sehwag and openly told him that he didn’t know how to play. Meanwhile, Sehwag got triggered by Naved’s words and fell right into the trap. Sehwag lost control over himself and tried to play a big shot in the very next ball before hitting straight to the fielder. Naved concluded his statement by adding that Rahul Dravid was the toughest batsman he ever bowled to.
“I went up to him and said ‘You don’t know how to play. Had you been in Pakistan, I don’t think you would have ever made it to the international team. He said a few things back to me. On my way back I told Inzi bhai… ‘Next ball, he is getting out’. He was surprised. I bowled a back-of-the-hand slower ball, and an infuriated Sehwag tried to hit it big but holed out. The wicket was so important that we won that match. These are certain tricks of the fast bowler. Sehwag was the easiest to dismiss and the most difficult to bowl at was Rahul Dravid,” he further added.