The former opener of India and Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) Virender Sehwag became hilariously eighth on the list of the 10 best Indian batters in the history of the Premier League (IPL) of India.
Sehwag, who won the inaugural World Cup T20 2007 in South Africa and played eight IPL seasons from the beginning, described himself as a player who could not win the trophy despite reaching the playoffs twice. Describing oneself in the third person with a poker face, Sehwag told Cricbuzz what made him a great hitter.
“Then comes a Virender Sehwag (at number 8), which was an explosive batter with Delhi Daredevils. He played the semifinals in two of the first three seasons of the IPL, but unfortunately the trophy was lost,” said Sehwag.
Sehwag referred to the semifinal format in the 2008 and 2009 editions of the IPL before the concept of play-offs, taken from US sports such as the NBA and the MLS, was introduced in the 2010 season.
Sachin Tendulkar in number 1 followed by Kohli and Rohit
The former Kings Captain XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) began the list by placing his former opening partner of India Sachin Tendulkar in the number 1 place.
Tendulkar, who led the Mumbai Indians in the first four seasons, scored 2,334 races of 78 games at an attack rate of 119.81. The best scorer throughout the International Cricket, scored its only hundreds in the T20 format in the IPL.
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In the second and third, Sehwag placed the Royal Virat Kohli challenges and the Indians of Mumbai, Rohit Sharma, who have become synonymous with the franchises themselves.
“You may not have won the trophy with RCB, but you have won the orange cap many times,” Sehwag on Kohli said.
Sehwag then appointed his 2011 World Cup winning teammate and the CSK Suresh Raina legend at number 4. Raina, who won the IPL four times with CSK, has scored 5,528 races at an average of 32 and an attack rate of 136.73.
CSK Legends Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni in Top 10
He then placed the CSK MS Dhoni captain at number 5, followed by former Capitals of Delhi and Punjab Kings, Shikhar Dhawan, at number 6, which is third among the best pascoradores of all time in IPL with 6,769 races.
He then placed the chief coach of India and former Kolkata Knight Riders Gautam Gambhir captain at number 7 for winning the trophy twice in 2012 and 2014.
Then he called the Lynchpin of Delhi Capitals for this season KL Rahul at number 9 saying that Karnataka batter had “played for many teams, but seems to have finally found his right place with Delhi Capitals.”
Then he appointed the two-time World Cup Winner Yusuf Pathan in No. 10. Sehwag recalled the fabulous 37-Ball 101 of the old man against the Mumbai Indians while playing for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2010. He followed as the fastest hundred in IPL for three years before Chris Gayle crushed him with a hundred 30 bowling in 2013.
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