Born: 20 October
1978, Delhi
Major Teams:
Delhi, India.
Known As:
Virender Shewag
Batting Style:
Right Hand Bat
Bowling Style:
Right Arm Off Break
Profile:
A hard hitting batsman
and a more than useful off spinner, Virender Shewag made a disastrous debut
against Pakistan at Mohali in the Pepsi Cup. After having got out for a
single he was hammered for 35 runs in the three overs that he bowled. He
was then short listed among the 19 probables for the 1999 World Cup in
England but did not make the final squad. Shewag has been a mainstay in
the Delhi Ranji Trophy team since the 1998-99 season. A powerful hitter
of the ball, he aggregated 745 runs during the 1998-99 Ranji Trophy season
with three centuries and followed it up with 674 runs in the 1999-2000
edition of the competition.
Shewag made a strong
comeback to the Indian team during the Australia tour of India in 2000-01.
In the first one-dayer at Bangalore, Shewag helped himself to a quick half
century before scalping three crucial wickets to play a leading role in
India's victory. Man of the match in the first one-dayer, Shewag was forced
to miss the rest of the series with a fractured finger. But the last has
not been heard of this stout hearted Delhi all rounder.
ODI Debut:
India v Pakistan at Mohali, Pepsi Cup, 1998/99
NEW DELHI: The starry-minded
not to mention starry eyed
would say swashbuckler Sehwag
once again displayed a perfect
sense of timing. Thursday
was akha teej , the day you can do
anything without consulting
astrologers. Not just any akha teej ,
but apparently the most
auspicious one in 70 years. And so,
shaadi manaane ko Sehwag
chala . But everything associated
with Sehwag just has to
be tempestous. And so, a downpour
duly engulfed Delhi, raising
fears that the season's most awaited
match-up might be a washout.
This day, though, there was going
to be no raining on the
Nawab of Najafgarh's parade.
Staff at 9 Ashoka Road Arun
Jaitley's residence and the wedding's
venue scurried around frantically.
Fans of the pedestal kind
were pressed into service;
the maroon satin and golden tissue
curtains dried and hung
up again. Picture-perfection was restored,
the stage set for Jea Band
from Red Fort to make a grand entry at
about 9 p m, huffing and
puffing away to the sonorous strains of Bolo
Tara Ra Ra .The pandal at
9, Ashoka Road, Arun Jaitley’s residence
and the venue of Sehwag’s
wedding. More photos But wait a minute,
where was the munda himself?
Logon dhoondo dhoondo might
well have been played at
this juncture, except that the band had
fallen silent. No, Sehwag
hadn't been run out, just left behind
somewhere in the course
of switching over from the mandatory
mare to a car. The waiting
began. In between, BCCI chief Jagmohan
Dalmiya walked in and wished
the couple an unbeaten century partnership.
Taaliyan, taaliyan . But
still no sign of the groom. The band held its peace,
only bursting into Aaj mere
yaar ki shaadi hai when local BJP leader
Vijay Goel marched in. Meanwhile,
the guests gave the decor a dekko .
Nothing too fancy: lights
on trees, a tastefully decorated stage
with golden drapes behind
the thrones. The chairs were golden too,
with maroon cushions, flanked
by two dull gold pillars bedecked with flowers,
prominently orchids, carnations,
roses and birds of paradise,
reportedly brought in from
Thailand
Contrary to reports of five-star
spreads, the food was mostly
shuddh shakahari bharatiya
bhojan with nary a foie gras or
caviar on bline in sight,
provided by Dass Caterers of
R K Puram, who'd also catered
the wedding of the bride's elder sister.
The look-around was interrupted
by a blast of music.
Pretty Woman the Main Hoon
Na version blared from the dance
floor set up in the lawn.
Shortly thereafter, at around 10 pm,
Viru entered in a white
Merc, wearing a colour-coordinated cream
churidar kurta . He charged
straight for the dressing-room.
A quick changeover into
a brown sherwani later, he was out
on the ground, ready to
begin his new innings. Guests with a
sense of humour remarked
upon the absence of a helmet.
And the ceremonies commenced.
All the hustle and bustle
at night was a far cry from the
subdued atmosphere at Sehwag's
house in Najafgarh earlier in the day.
Curtains were tightly drawn,
doors and windows bolted,
and umpteen policemen patrolled
the house on all sides.
There was a brief dance
routine by cousins and friends.
The moment the music started,
curious neighbours thronged
the entrance and climbed
onto the rooftops for a glimpse.
A family visit to the local
temple evoked a similiar response,
with enthusiastic onlookers
scaling the walls and cheering and clapping wildly.
Viru didn't have a bat to
raise in acknowledgment,
but he did smile and wave,
all the while cutting a dashing
figure in grey sherwani
and red bandhni turban.
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Sehwag,
fastest triple hundred ..............
Sehwag and Tendulkar pound Pakistan
Multan, March 29
Indian cricket changed forever on a hot, dusty Monday in this historic
town. First, Virender Sehwag, that taciturn, unpredictable man who transmogrifies
into a swashbuckling, unpredictable player, rewrote the record books by
breaking the 300 barrier.
And then, stand-in skipper Rahul Dravid did what no Indian captain before
him had probably done and, God knows, might not do again. He made a decision
to declare with a player unbeaten on 194. The reasoning behind this apparently
illogical decision was probably a brave one — he almost certainly put the
team before an individual milestone. What made the decision so dramatic
— and caused controversy galore — was that the man left stranded was Sachin
Tendulkar.
It couldn't have been a more spectacular ending to a day on which records
of every sort fell. The highest stand for any wicket against Pakistan,
the highest individual score against Pakistan, the highest team total against
Pakistan and finally, Laxman's epic 281, the highest ever score by an Indian
batsman.
Sehwag, who began the day on 228, almost certainly felt that thing he
says he never feels in life — pressure. It was a very unlike Sehwag-like
innings that one witnessed on Monday. One full of shaky leaves, edgy starts
that didn't materialize into runs, slow progression by his standards instead
of the scoreboard streaming ahead in leaps and bounds.
He was twice dropped in the same over, in between which he got past
Laxman and survived a run out by a hair's breadth. He went into lunch eight
short of the magic mark, dawdled around for a while and then suddenly,
in characteristic fashion, slammed a six off Saqlain over mid-wicket to
get from 295 to 301. It was almost 1pm.
Back to the declaration: Dravid's reasoning possibly was that every
over that India got to bowl on the day would count towards winning. It
is a bold logic that few in India - trained by a society that adulates
individual achievements - would understand. Forget India, most in the Indian
team do not understand the decision.
Sachin himself said he was disappointed at not getting 200 and had no
idea the declaration was coming just then.
The Tendulkar drama almost overshadowed Sehwag's effort. But Sachin
himself, Sehwag's boyhood hero, was unstinting in his praise. "The 300
was badly needed. Most countries had managed it and India somehow, never
had. But Viru did it and it was a fantastic, fabulous effort. He's one
of a kind".
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