Virender Sehwag was primarily a middle-order batsman during his initial years but a piece of advice from Sourav Ganguly changed the course of his career.
Virender Sehwag made his name as one of the most destructive openers in the history of the game. The former Indian batsman build a solid opening pair with former captain Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar. His partnership with Tendulkar is often revisited by Indian fans, with many regarding the duo as one of the fiercest in world cricket at the time.
However, when Sehwag entered the Indian team, he was primarily a midde-order batsman. It was then-captain Sourav Ganguly who asked him to open the innings because of a crowded middle-order.
In a conversation with Gaurav Kapur for his podcast, "22 Yars with Gaurav Kapur," former Kolkata Knight Riders Team Director Joy Bhattacharya revealed how Ganguly convinced Sehwag to open the innings.
“Look at Yuvraj, look at Sehwag. You know what he does to Sehwag. He turns around and says to him ‘look the middle order is too crowded. If you want to play for India, you have to open. There is me, Tendulkar, Laxman, Dravid... where are you going to get a chance? Yuvraj Singh did not get a chance for so many years because the middle order is crowded. Go and open’,” Bhattacharya said.
“And what happened was that Sehwag opened and the history was made."
In a conversation with Kapur in 'Breakfast with Champions', Ganguly also said that while the openers in his era were expected to leave the ball to make it old, Sehwag used to smack the ball hard to generate the same effect.
He played 214 of his 251 matches in ODIs as an opener, scoring 7,518 runs at the position. He also scored an ODI double-century against West Indies in 2011, smashing 219 runs - a world record at the time.
