Destructive! A word that can be used best when describing Virender Sehwag. The guy who played T20s in Tests and did so against every opposition despite the occasion. Batting on Day 1 at the MCG against the mighty Australians, Sehwag came out with a vengeance.
At that point, the Indian cricket team was leading the Aussies 1-0. After winning the first Test they drew the second to ensure they still had a shot to win the series. With a lot of the line, Virender Sehwag stepped in calm, cool, and collected. However, there was nothing calm about his batting that day.
With his fellow Delhi teammate Aakash Chopra, Sehwag stitched a 141-run stand, of which Chopra had scored just 48. Soon after Chopra departed, Sehwag had reached his ton, in just 144 balls.
But there was no stopping him. In the next 56 balls, he scored another 50 runs and reached his highest Test score (at that point). Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar departed, but even that did not stop the opener.
By the time India reached 300, Virender Sehwag was closing in on his 200. The milestone was close, but it felt like it was too far. Batting at 195 and facing part-timer Simon Katich, the aggressive opener smashed the ball hard, but only to find Nathan Bracken.
His 195 off 233 balls helped India score 366 runs in the first inning, but they couldn’t salvage a win. What beckoned to be their first-ever series in Australia ended in a 1-1 leveller.
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