VIRENDRA SEHWAG’S LIFE STORY

Virender Sehwag nickname Verru born on 20 October 1978, in Delhi is an Indian cricketer and permanent member of the Indian Cricket Team since 1999 (one-dayers) and 2001 (Tests). Veeru is an aggressive right-handed opening batsman and an occasional right-arm off-spin bowler. Veeru is the record holder for the highest score made by an Indian in Test cricket in a single innings (319), the fastest triple century in Test cricket (reached 300 off only 278 balls) and is the only Indian to score a triple century in Test cricket. He is one of the only three players to have scored two triple hundreds in Tests, along with Don Bradman and Brian Lara. He is the only player to score two triple centuries and take a five wicket haul at Test level.

Virender Sehwag - Veeru is not afraid from Ajantha Mendis
The Sultan of Multan Virender Sehwag sounded a warning to Lanka mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis saying that he had done homework against him and now he is ready to face the Baltimore Bulllet for the upcoming Lanka tour.
"I studied mystery men during the Asia cup in Pakistan and can pick up his deliveries."

Veeru all set for Castrol awards

Nawab of Najafgarh Virender Sehwag is the favourite for Win the Castrol Indian Cricketer of the Year 2008 award following his consistent performance of the year 2008.
Veeru, who has 59 points against his name, would have to stave off challenge from Gautam Gambhir (52), MS Dhoni - Mahi (48), Harbhajan Singh - Bhajji and Ishant Sharma - Lambu to lay his hand on the award.
Veeru splendid year ended in a fitting finale during the first India-England Test in Chennai, where he scored a blistering 83 on the fourth evening, which tilted the scales in India's favour.
Mahi too remains in the fray after a magical season with his Test captaincy yielding four wins in five matches. Bhajji and Lambu have also enhanced their reputations and are in the hunt for the award.

Veeru Early year and Background

The son of a grain merchant, Veeru spent his childhood in a bungalow in a joint family . Though now settled in New Delhi, the Veeru family hailed from Haryana. Veeru was the third of four children born to father Krishan and mother Krishna, with two older sisters Manju, Anju and younger brother Vinod. His father attributes his interest in cricket to a toy bat which he was given when he was seven months old. He attended Arora Vidya School in Delhi, and pestered his parents to let him play cricket, on the basis that he was not academically gifted.

Veeru personal life

Sehwag married Aarti Alhawat in April, 2004 under heavy security in a media publicized wedding. The couple have a son, born on October 18th 2007. Sehwag is fondly referred to in the media as the Nawab of Najafgarh, Najafgarh being his home locality in Delhi. A lifelong vegetarian, Sehwag owns a vegetarian eatery, Sehwag Favourites, which opened in late 2005 in the Fun Republic cineplex in Delhi.

Award of Veeru

* Veeru got the Arjuna Award in 2002 for his performance in the Cricket field.

Virender Sehwag in IPL

Veeru is the Captain and Icon player of the Delhi Daredevils team managed by GMR groups. Though Delhi Daredevils team not qualified for the semis of the Tournament, Veeru performed very well in first season of the IPL tournament.

Veeru ODI career

Sehwag's ODI career started poorly when he scored 1 against Pakistan in Mohali in April 1999. Veeru wasn't given another match until the home series against Zimbabwe in December 2000. Veeru rose to prominence in his fourth ODI match in March 2001 when he scored 58 off 54 balls, against Australia in Bangalore. Combined with his three wickets, he help earn India a victory and was awarded his first man of the match award.
Veeru had his international breakthrough in Sri Lanka in August 2001 when he was promoted to the opening slot for the tri-series also involving New Zealand. In the match against New Zealand that was to decide the finalist, he scored his maiden century from 69 balls.[13] The century is the third fastest ODI century for an Indian behind Mohammad Azharuddin's 62 ball effort and Yuvraj singh's 64 ball effort. This was his first score beyond 50 in ten matches and saw him named man of the match. This performance earned him a regular spot in the ODI squad in the middle-order. An innings of note in 2002 was the 22 ball half-century against Kenya in Bloemfontein, tying the second fastest 50 by an Indian.

With Ganguly's injury in the India-England ODI Series in January 2002, Sehwag received another opportunity to open the innings which he seized by scoring 82 from 64 balls in Kanpur in an eight-wicket Indian victory. With good performances as opener, Sehwag was made a permanent fixture at the top of the innings.
After modest returns on the tours of the West Indies and England in early and mid 2002, he scored 271 runs at 90.33 in the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka, with two man of the match performances.
In late 2002 he scored an unbeaten 114 from 82 balls that included a 196 run partnership with Ganguly to lead India to a nine wicket win over the West Indies in Rajkot. He was the only batsman to score a century in the 7 match New Zealand ODI Series where he made two centuries - 108 in Napier in an Indian defeat and 112 in Auckland in a one-wicket victory.
Virender Sehwag had a mediocre 2003 Cricket World Cup, scoring 299 runs at an average of 27, he top scored with 82 in the loss against Australia in the final.
Even with his inconsistent form, he earned 3 MoM awards in 2004 and 2004/05 ODI season with one award each against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan. In the match against Pakistan in Kochi he scored 108 off 95 balls, his first century in eighteen months which set up a 95 run victory.

Sehwag Out of the team
Sehwag then started a two year streak without a century in ODIs, as well as having his ODI tour of Pakistan in early 2006 curtailed due to a shoulder injury. His drought in limited overs cricket has puzzled cricket experts because of the consistent performances in Test matches with a high scoring rate has not translated into significant contributions in the ODI format of the game. Sehwag was dropped from the ODI Squad for the WI-IND 4 Match ODI series. With debate over whether he needs to be included in the 2007 Cricket World Cup squad, captain Dravid's insistence on his retention paved the way to being named in the world cup squad. However, despite this assurance, Sehwag's form has continued to decline, and he has now failed to pass 17 in his last seven games. India have won only two of those games.

Sehwag comeback in World cup
Sehwag started the 2007 World Cup in poor form, only being picked for the side because of Rahul Dravid's wishes. He scored poorly in the first group match but bounced back to hit a magnificent 114 from 87 deliveries against lowly ranked Bermuda. The Indian team scored 413-5, the highest team total in a World Cup match, and went on to win the match but this was their only win in the tournament.

Sehwag Test career

Sehwag's maiden century in mid-2001 in Sri Lanka was not enough to gain selection in the Test team for the corresponding series. Sehwag made his Test debut in late 2001 in the First Test against South Africa in Bloemfontein as a middle-order batsman. He scored 105 on debut despite the South African win. He returned for the home series in 2001-02 against England and Zimbabwe. After scoring two half-centuries in the preceding series, he was promoted to a makeshift-opener on the 2002 England tour after the failure of previous openers and an experiment with wicket-keeper Deep Dasgupta. He scored 84 in the new role at Lord's and then a century in the Second Test at Trent Bridge, and has batted there in Test matches ever since. He scored his maiden home-century of 147 in the First Test against the West Indies in the 2002-03 home season in Mumbai, which was at the time his top score in Test matches, earning him his first man of the match award. After a poor tour to New Zealand, he scored passed 50 for the first time in 9 innings when he scored 130 in a Test at Mohali against New Zealand in late 2003.
He then scored 195 against Australia on Boxing Day 2003 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. His dismissal on the first afternoon lead to an Indian collapse and eventual defeat.

In early 2004, he became the only Indian to score a triple century in Test cricket, with 309 against Pakistan in the First Test in Multan, beating Very Very Special Laxman's previous Indian record(281 against Australia) and helping India to a total of 5/675, the highest ever against Pakistan. India went on to win by an innings, with Sehwag named man of the match. He also scored 90 in the Second Test defeat in Lahore and was named man of the series for his efforts after being the highest run scorer and average for the series.
Against Aussie in 2003-04 Sehwag scored 155 in the Chennai test match to set up a triple figure lead for the Indians, but the match was rained out on the final day with the Indians requiring 229 for victory.In the home series against South Africa that year, he scored 164 in the drawn First Test in Kanpur, and 88 in the Second in Kolkata, which India won to claim the series. Sehwag was again named man of the series.
Sehwag failed on the tour of Bangladesh, but on the 2005 home series against Pakistan, he scored 173 in Mohali, 81 in Kolkata and then 201 in Bangalore, totalling 544 runs at an average of 90.66 to win the man of the series award.
Veeru scored his first century in a year when he compiled 254 against Pakistan in the First Test in Lahore in January 2005, the highest ever Test score at a strike rate of over 100 and the second fastest double century ever. In doing so he was involved in a 410 run partnership with captain Rahul Dravid, the highest ever against Pakistan and in Pakistan, and just four short of a new world record opening partnership in Test matches.
During the 2006 West Indies tour, Sehwag narrowly missed out on scoring a century in the opening session of the Second Test in St Lucia, ending with 99 at the interval. He went on to compile 180 in just 190 balls, and also collected four wickets for the match to be named man of the match. Although Sehwag had collected more than 50 wickets in ODIs, he was substantially used as a Test bowler for the first time on the West Indies tour, taking nine wickets in the first two Test matches when he was used in the absence of off-spinner Harbhajan Singh as India opted to only use one specialist spinner.

Veeru out of form
Aside from a 76* in the Second Test in Mohali against England in 2006, fell seven times for less than 20 runs to the new ball , leading criticism of his position in the team. Poor form saw Sehwag being dropped from the Test team in 2007.

Veeru Comeback in Test squad
In December 2007, he was recalled for India's tour of Australia after being omitted form the list of probables, amid calls for his return by several commentators, most notably Ian Chappell.

Though he was omitted from the team for the first two matches, both of which India lost, he was picked for the third Test at the WACA in Perth after scoring a century in a tour match against the ACT Invitational XI. He played a key part in India's victory, making 72 runs at a brisk pace and taking 2 crucial wickets. He scored a match-saving 151 in the second innings of the fourth Test in Adelaide. This was his first century in the second innings of a test match, and was notable in that he rejected his usual, aggressive batting style in favour of a more defensive approach which was the need of the hour.
Sehwag continued his good form against South Africa in the home series in April 2008, scoring 319 in the first Test in Chennai, having reached 300 off just 278 balls, the fastest triple century in test history. Sehwag became only the third batsman after Sir Donald Bradman and Brian Lara to score 2 triple centuries in Test Cricket. He scored 257 runs the third day of the match, which was the most runs scored by an individual batsman on a single day of a Test match since 1954, when Dennis Compton made 273 runs on the second day of the Nottingham Test against Pakistan.
In the first test against England in Chennai in December 2008, Sehwag's rapid 83 off just 68 balls, in the last session of the fourth day, set India up for its record run-chase of 4/387, the highest successful target on Indian soil.

Veeru playing style

Veeru was often compared to Sachin Tendulkar in his early days due to the similar batting style, build and appearance. Sehwag's technique is often cited as being particularly unorthodox, often backing away (considered technically incorrect) to free his arms whilst playing his shots, in particular to cut or drive spinners inside out. He is frequently cited by commentators for his extremely strong (physically) square cutting and upper cutting and power through the off-side. In particular his tendency to strike the ball in the air and risk dismissal is a trait which has seen him noted for his chancy and adventurous mindset. He is also noted for a relative lack of footwork, with his timing often attributed to his eyesight. Of late, Sehwag has shown a proclivity to be dismissed by inswing deliveries, something attributed to his leaden-footed batting style.
Controversy with Veeru
In November 2001, Sehwag was involved in controversy in the Second Test match between India and South Africa at St George's Park, Port Elizabeth, when he was given a one Test ban for "excessive appealing" by ICC Match referee Mike Denness. He was one of six Indian players to be receive bans, four of which were suspended bans. Indian cricket establishment threatened to call off the tour unless Mike Denness was removed as match referee from the third test match. ICC backed Mike Denness and the South African board backed the Indian cricket establishment and did not allow Mike Denness to enter the stadium on the first day of the third test match. ICC declared that the match was 'unofficial' and 'friendly five day match' and the series was officially declared as a 2 match series and South Africa as 1-0 winners. The subsequent England tour to India was placed in jeopardy when India picked Sehwag in the test squad. Subsequent to this development, ICC issued a warning that any match with Sehwag in the cricket team will not be considered an "official" Test match until Sehwag had served his one match ban. After negotiations with ECB and ICC and in general interest of cricket, Sehwag was dropped from the team for the first Test against England.

Veeru Domestic cricket

Sehwag made his debut for Delhi cricket team in first class cricket in the 1997–98 season. He was selected to the North Zone cricket team for the Duleep Trophy the following 1998-99 season, ending fifth in the total runscoring list. The following year he was fourth on the Duleep Trophy run scoring list, including a 274, the highest score of the competition. This was attained against South Zone at Agartala in just 327 balls, and followed a rapid 187 from just 175 in a Ranji Trophy match against Punjab. He was then selected for the U-19 team which toured South Africa. He was seventh in the 2000–01 season with two centuries, but his consistency earned the attention of selectors and he became a regular member of the national team in mid 2001.
Since his international career started, he has continued to play for Delhi in the domestic competition whilst he is not occupied with international duty and has captained North Zone to victory in the Deodhar Trophy in 2004–05 and 2005–-06.