17 years of sheer entertainment: Thank you, Sehwag!

An instant when a batsman would surely be under immense pressure. He would choose to take singles and reach the landmark.

 

This man was different. He was fearless. He had to go his way!

 

Stunning the cricketing fraternity and the little crowd at the Multan Cricket Stadium, the gutsy opener went was the big hit and reached the triple hundred with a SIX.

 

 

This moment is easily the perfect pick to celebrate Sehwag's Test career that went off the mark, today, 17 years back in South Africa. (Pity it wasn't India.)

 

India toured South Africa for a two-Test series, and a 23-year-old Sehwag earned his first Test cap during the first Test at Bloemfontein. He made his debut by batting at No. 6 which turned into a memorable knock for two reasons.

 

He smashed 105 in his first match and his 220-run stand with his idol, Sachin Tendulkar was just an icing on the cake. However, the result went to the host as India lost the match by nine wickets.

 

Nevertheless, India and world cricket found a player whose batting was sheer joy to watch. Sehwag, through his career of 14 years, has entertained his fans by destroying some greatest of the bowling attacks.

 

 

The quality that defined him apart from the other legends of his era was his fearless approach to the game. His game never changed, he never bothered to play according to the field placement, if he had to hit, he would hit, and there was a little the fielders could do.

 

His nature of being unpredictable when at the crease was something that was difficult for the opponent captain to crack.

 

"He almost manipulates the field. You change it, and it's like he says: 'Right, I'm going to hit it somewhere else now' - Andrew Strauss, former England skipper, explained every captain's frustration when they faced Sehwag in any format.

 

Although he was compared to the likes of Tendulkar and Viv Richards all his playing time, his game was unique, and the records spoke as much as his batting.

 

It is Sehwag who features in the club of the greats - Don Bradman, Brian Lara and Sehwag are the only cricketers so far to have two 300+ centuries in the longest format.

 

Sehwag retired from all forms of cricket in 2015 with 16000+ runs together in Tests and ODIs.

 

However, the legendary entertainer of the sport has ensured he continues to do what he is best at - bring a smile on his fans' face.

 

After cricket pitches, he chose social media as his platform and his witty Tweets never let us forget how awesome our Viru pa is!