Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag was one of the most fearless batsmen. He did not mind losing his wicket, but he would always play his natural game. It did not matter if the opposition team’s fast bowler bowled at 130 kmph or 150 kmph, Sehwag would always look to score boundaries.
In his legendary career, Virender Sehwag represented the Indian cricket team in 104 Test matches, 251 ODI games and 19 T20I matches. He scored a total of 72 half-centuries and 38 hundreds across all three formats of international cricket. Talking about his aggressive approach in all three formats of the game, Sehwag had a strike rate of 82 in Test cricket, 104.33 in ODIs, and 145.39 in T20 internationals. The scoring rate highlights how he decimated the opposition bowling lineups.
Not Brett Lee, not Shoaib Akhtar, this bowler gave Virender Sehwag sleepless nights
In an interview with RJ Raunac on YouTube, Virender Sehwag revealed that former Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was the one who troubled him the most. Sehwag used to give sleepless nights to opposition bowlers, but Muttiah was a bowler who did not let Sehwag sleep peacefully before India vs. Sri Lanka matches.
“The most dangerous bowler I played against and who scared me the most was Muttiah Muralitharan. It took me 7-8 years to tackle Murali in international cricket, from 2001-2007. Whenever I used to play against Sri Lanka, I always used to fear Murali,” Sehwag said.
Muttiah Muralitharan dismissed the Indian opener eight times in Test and ODI cricket
The stats also reflect the reason why Muttiah Muralitharan was the name taken by Virender Sehwag while naming the bowler who scared him the most. Muralitharan bowled in 31 ODI innings against the right-handed batsman and dismissed him on five occasions. In the Test format, Muralitharan came face to face with Sehwag 17 times and picked up his wicket thrice.
Muttiah Muralitharan is one of the greatest spin bowlers to have played the game. The former Sri Lankan spinner played 133 Test matches for the island country, scalping 800 wickets, including 67 five-wicket hauls and 22 ten-wicket match-hauls. In the 50-over format of the game, Muralitharan picked up 534 wickets in 350 games for Sri Lanka.
