Virender Sehwag names ex-player who influenced Sourav Ganguly to make him open: WATCH

Former Indian batsman Virender Sehwag was one of the most attacking openers of his time. The 'Nawab of Najafgarh' is regarded as one of those players that changed the dynamics of Test cricket. The 41-year-old used to attack bowlers from the word go and when he got going, there was hardly any bowler who could put a leash on him.

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Virender Sehwag credits Sourav Ganguly and Zaheer Khan for making him an opener

Virender Sehwag recently shared a clip from a quiz show hosted by Sourav Ganguly named 'Dadagiri' where he was present alongside Zaheer Khan, VVS Laxman and R Ashwin. In the video posted on Sehwag's Instagram account, Sehwag revealed the main reason behind becoming the great player that he became.

Sehwag said that from 1999 to December 2000, he played a lot of first-class cricket where he made runs galore and when he came back into the Indian team, Sourav Ganguly was the captain of the side. He revealed that Ganguly picked him in the Indian team in December 2000 for the Zimbabwe tour. Sehwag further said that Ganguly backed him and gave him a plethora of chances despite failing in 15 to 20 innings.

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Further crediting Ganguly for his success, Sehwag reckoned that if he had not been backed and given so many chances, he wouldn't have become the player he did. Sehwag went on to reveal that he was promoted as an opener by Ganguly on the recommendation by ex-India pacer Zaheer Khan.

The former cricketer revealed that during the 2001 Sri Lanka tour, the Indian team had tried many openers in the form of Yuvraj Singh, Hemang Badani, Amay Khurasiya etc but none of them scored runs. It is then that Zaheer Khan suggested Ganguly to give him a chance. The cricketer opined that back then he used to abuse them for making him open but admitted he was wrong as he thanked them for promoting him, since he was able to score more runs at the top.

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Virender Sehwag career stats 

The opening batsman emerged as a prolific run-scorer for the Indian side across formats. The star cricketer's strike-rate of 82.2 in Test match cricket speaks volumes about his hard-hitting batting style. He has amassed 8568 runs in red-ball cricket, with two stunning triple centuries. He is also the first Indian batsman to score a triple century in Test matches. Sehwag has 8273 runs in ODI cricket in 251 matches. 

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