Virender Sehwag probably the most successful Indian opener after Sunil Gavaskar: Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir, the former Indian cricketer, reckons that Virender Sehwag was probably the most successful opening batsman India produced after Sunil Gavaskar. The Nawab of Najafgarh started his international career in the middle-order, but gradually he moved to the top order. Once he started opening the batting, there was no looking back for the talented Delhi batsman.

Gambhir said that Sehwag didn’t feel like a natural opener. In fact, the southpaw mentioned that Sehwag called for his batting partner to take first strike. Sehwag is the only Indian batsman with two triple centuries in Test cricket that he accomplished against Pakistan and South Africa. Gambhir put forth his opinions on Star Sports’ show Cricket Connected.

Virender Sehwag never considered himself as an opener, says Gambhir

“Virender Sehwag used to say that he is not an opening batsman, so whoever is the opener should be taking strike. He didn’t consider himself as an opening batsman although he got two triple hundreds, I don’t know how many hundreds he got. Probably the most successful India has had after Sunil Gavaskar but he never considered himself as an opener. So, I had to face the fire,” Gambhir told.

“We used to discuss about everything apart from the bowlers, whether it was what to have for lunch or dinner or where to go and what to see in foreign countries,” he stated. Gambhir and Sehwag shared a great camaraderie as openers for Team India after having played together for Delhi at the domestic circuit.

Gambhir was also clear cut in saying that Sehwag’s mindset couldn’t be copied. “No, never. Lot of people might score runs but the impact is very important. The way he used to setup the Test matches,” Gambhir added.

Gambhir also went down the memory lane to the 2008 Chennai Test against England at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. In that game, India were chasing 387 in the fourth innings and Sehwag’s 68-ball 83 got the hosts off to a blistering start.

His 117-run stand for the opening wicket with Gambhir set the tone for the rest of the run-chase. After scoring over 16,000 runs for India, he retired from international cricket back in 2015. He also successfully plied his trade for the Delhi Daredevils, now Capitals, and Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League (IPL).