Virender Sehwag was one of the best openers that India produced in the game. His main mantra was to just go after the bowling, irrespective of the format, which made him a special cricketer. He never holds back and likes to take on the bowling, whether he is batting at zero or in the nineties. Many former bowlers revealed that it was pretty hard to bowl against Sehwag.
However, recently, former Pakistani pacer Rana Naved-ul-Hasan made a bombshell revelation. He said that during his career, when Pakistan used to play regularly against archrival India, it was pretty easy to dismiss Virender Sehwag. Naved played for Pakistan between 2003 and 2010. He played nine tests, 74 ODIs, and four T20Is and took 18, 110, and 5 wickets, respectively. Naved is currently serving as a coach at Afghanistan's high performance center in Kabul.
"Virender Sehwag was the easiest to dismiss"- Naved-ul-Hasan
He played 16 ODIs against India and took 33 wickets at an economy rate of 5.68. In a recent interaction on the Nadir Ali podcast, Naved was asked who was the easiest and most difficult batter to get out of the Indian team. He also recalled an incident when he dismissed Sehwag during 2004/05 tour to India. The former Pakistani pacer said that the Indian opener was batting pretty well during the third ODI in Visakhapatnam.
He was batting at 85 runs when he bowled him a bouncer, and they had a few exchanges of words. Naved said, "On my way back I told Inzi bhai ‘Next ball, he is getting out’. He was surprised. I bowled a back-of-the-hand slower ball, and an infuriated Sehwag tried to hit it big but holed out." When asked about the easiest Indian batter to dismiss, he said, "Sehwag was the easiest to dismiss and the most difficult to bowl at was Rahul Dravid."
Virender Sehwag vs Naved-ul-Hasan: 21 Runs off 2 Balls
There is no doubt that the way Sehwag used to play, the margin of error was huge. Because when you take risks, your chances of getting out increase. But It is just a sily statement that the guy who scored over 17000 international runs with 38 centuries, including seven double tons (6 Tests + 1 ODI) along with two triple tons, was an easy prey.
Speaking of records, Virender Sehwag had an excellent record against Pakistan. He played nine tests and scored 1276 runs at an incredible average of 91.14 and a strike rate of 80.20. He also had four centuries and two half-centuries in 14 innings, with a best of 309. In ODIs, he scored 1071 runs against Pakistan in 31 innings with two centuries and six half-centuries at a strike rate of 102.58.
In fact, Sehwag has hit 21 runs off two legal deliveries from Rana Naved-ul-Hasan in ODI cricket. It happened during an ODI game on March 13, 2004. It was the 11th over of the inning, and the pacer started with a no-ball, which was hit for a four by Sehwag. The following ball was also a no-ball, and Sehwag hit it for another boundary. The third ball was another no-ball. Meanwhile, after three consecutive no-balls, Naved bowled a legal delivery, which was a dot ball.
But the next ball was another no-ball, which was hit for another four by Sehwag. The next ball was another no-ball. However, the pacer bowled a legal delivery after that, which went to another boundary, and he ended up with 21 runs off 2 balls. Sehwag hit 16 runs off the bat, while five runs came with no-balls. It was one of the worth bowling moment in the ODI cricket history.