Virender Sehwag
Former India opener Virender Sehwag, known for his quirky social media posts and upfront attitude, is celebrating his 42nd birthday on Tuesday (October 20). On his special day, the 'Nawab of Najafgarh'-- the first and only Indian batsman to score 300 more than once-- was wished by many prominent names of the cricket fraternity.
Mentioning Sehwag's unprecedented records in international cricket, The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) also extended birthday wishes to the right-hander. Cricket Australia (CA) also shared highlights of Sehwag's 195-run knock from the Boxing Day Test in 2003.
Talking about players, Suresh Raina was among the first names who wished Sehwag on the occasion. "Happy birthday viru bhai @virendersehwag My big brother, always inspired me & guided through various paths of life. Wishing you nothing but the best always. Have an amazing day paji," Raina wrote on Twitter.
Current India skipper Virat Kohli also joined the bandwagon and wished Sehwag through his official Twitter handle. "Happy birthday @virendersehwag bhai. Have a great day," wrote Kohli, who is currently leading Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the on-going IPL edition in the UAE.
'Master Blaster' and Sehwag's trusted on-field partner-- Sachin Tendulkar-- also passed birthday wishes but in a quirky manner. Tendulkar shared a picture with Sehwag on Twitter, mentioning how the latter dealt only with fours and sixes while being at the crease.
"The one who only dealt in 4s and 6s while batting turns 42. Even that adds up to 6️ Face savouring foodTum jiyo hazaron saal aur saal ke din ho 50 hazaar. Janamdin mubarak @virendersehwag," wrote Tendulkar on Twitter.
Harbhajan Singh, who spent a considerable amount of time with Sehwag in the national side, also shared a picture to pass on birthday wishes. "Le hatho mai hath chal tuu oh sathi chal... Happy birthday brother @virendersehwag Kush raho tandrust raho.. #legand," wrote Harbhajan.
In an illustrious red-ball career, Sehwag donned the national jersey in 104 Tests, scoring 8,586 runs at an impressive average of 49.34. He also gathered 23 centuries and 32 half-centuries in the traditional format. His sheer dominance in the longest format can be judged by his two triple centuries. The right-hander is the only Indian batsman to have scored two triple centuries in Test cricket.
Talking about Sehwag's expedition with the white ball, he represented India in 251 ODIs and 19 T20Is, scoring 8273 and 394 runs respectively.
Widely acknowledged as the most dangerous opener of all time, Sehwag was known for destructive batting from the word go. He also has a double century under his belt in the ODI format, which he had achieved by smashing 219 against West Indies in 2011.
