Ajay Ratra recalls Sachin Tendulkar sacrificing his ODI opening slot for Virender Sehwag

Former wicket-keeper batsman Ajay Ratra has revealed that it was Sachin Tendulkar who had sacrificed his opening slot in ODI cricket for his good friend Virender Sehwag. Sachin had become a regular opener in the 50-overs format in 1994 and had made a tremendous impact both personally as well as for the Indian team in the years to come. 

Viru was promoted as an opener during a 2001 series against New Zealand and he had opened the innings with his then skipper Sourav Ganguly (preceding the 2003 World Cup) and from 2003 World Cup onwards, it was Sachin and Viru who used to open the innings for India in ODI's.

'If Sachin hadn't agreed': Ajay Ratra

“Sachin was doing so well as an opener at that time but Sehwag had to open. So Sachin offered to bat at No.4. Sehwag then opened with Dada (Sourav Ganguly) for that left and right combination. If Sachin hadn’t agreed then Viru probably would have had to bat lower. He wouldn’t have got the chance to open in ODIs and the story could have been a lot different,” said Ajay Ratra while speaking to a news daily.

“Sachin took a different role. He volunteered to bat at No.4.He did it for the side. His role was then to bat till the 45th over. And the move worked, Viru became so successful at the top,” the former wicket-keeper batsman added.

“A lot of the times, Viru is called unconventional but if his natural instinct was stopped then it might have been a different story. So Viru had the support to go for his shots and had that liberty. It is very important to back these players. Yes, people used to advise him when he used to play bad shots but he was never told to change his game,” he further added.

Virender Sehwag's illustrious cricket career

Sehwag has represented India at the highest level in 103 Tests and 251 One Day Internationals from 1999 to 2013. In his successful career, he has managed to score over 8,000 runs in both formats of the game i.e. 8,586 Test runs and 8,273 ODI runs. The Delhi cricketer was regarded as an explosive opening batsman who had the ability to change the complexion of the game at will. At the same time, he was also a handy part-time right-arm spinner as well. 

The former vice-captain had been a part of many of India's emphatic triumphs that include the 2002 Natwest tri-series in England, the ICC Champions Trophy 2002 (India were joint-winners with Sri Lanka), runners up in the 2003 World Cup, drawn Test series in Australia during the 2003/04 season, the historic Test and ODI series wins on Pakistan soil in the same season, ICC World T20 2007, the tri-series win in Australia (2007/08), World Cup 2011 victory on home soil, etc.

Viru had bid adieu to the game in November 2015 and since then has been a successful commentator as well as a cricket pundit. He was last seen in action during the Road Saftey Series earlier this year where he was representing the India Legends led by the Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar. The event was called off midway due to the global pandemic.

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