The former Delhi batter named a list of IPL winners in his top-10
Former India and Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) opener Virender Sehwag hilariously put himself eighth on the list of the Top-10 Indian batters of the Indian Premier League (IPL) history.
Sehwag, who won the inaugural 2007 T20 World Cup in South Africa and played eight seasons of IPL from the beginning, described himself as a player who failed to win the trophy despite twice reaching the playoffs. Describing self in third person with a poker face, Sehwag told Cricbuzz what made him a great batter.
“Then comes one Virender Sehwag (at No.8), who was an explosive batsman with Delhi Daredevils. He played the semifinals in two of the first three seasons of the IPL but unfortunately missed out on the trophy,” Sehwag said.
Sehwag was referring to the format of semifinals in the 2008 and 2009 editions of the IPL before the play-offs concept, borrowed from American sports such as the NBA and MLS, was introduced in the 2010 season.
The former Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) captain began the list by placing his former India opening partner Sachin Tendulkar at the No. 1 spot.
Tendulkar, who led Mumbai Indians in the first four seasons, scored 2,334 runs from 78 matches at a strike rate of 119.81. The highest run-scorer in all of international cricket, scored his only hundred in the T20 format in the IPL.
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At second and third, Sehwag placed Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Virat Kohli and Mumbai Indians’ Rohit Sharma who have become synonymous with the franchises themselves.
“He might not have won the trophy with RCB, but has won the Orange Cap many times,” Sehwag said about Kohli.
Sehwag then named his 2011 World Cup-winning team mate and CSK legend Suresh Raina at No.4. Raina, who won the IPL four times with CSK, has scored 5,528 runs at an average of 32 and a strike rate of 136.73.
He then placed CSK captain MS Dhoni at No.5 followed by former Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings skipper Shikhar Dhawan at No.6 who is third among the all-time highest runscorers in IPL with 6,769 runs.
He then placed India head coach and former Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir at No.7 for winning the trophy twice in 2012 and 2014.
Then he named Delhi Capitals’ lynchpin for this season KL Rahul at No.9 saying that the Karnataka batter had “played for many teams, but seems to have finally found his right place with Delhi Capitals.”
Then he named two-time World Cup winner Yusuf Pathan at No. 10. Sehwag remembered the elder Pathan’s fabulous 37-ball 101 against Mumbai Indians while playing for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2010. It remained as the fastest hundred in IPL for three years before Chris Gayle smashed it with a 30-ball hundred in 2013.
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