In the inaugural edition of the IPL, Virender Sehwag was selected to captain the Delhi Daredevils. Honesty, both his bat skills and leadership skills brought rewards to the team. He amassed 406 runs in 14 matches, an average of 33.83.
However, he lacked consistency the following season, averaging 19.80 runs per game. Due to this, he stepped down from his captaincy role in the third season and was succeeded by Gautam Gambhir.
Only Sehwag was retained in the side for the fourth edition of the IPL, and he was once again given the responsibility of leading the side. At the tournament’s fifth edition, Sehwag scored five half-centuries in a row to become the first batsman to achieve this feat. Averaging 33.00 runs in 16 games, he ran for 495 runs in that edition. There were 5 half-centuries recorded in this edition.
Sehwag’s maiden century in IPL
Sehwag scored his first century of the IPL in the 11th edition of the tournament. Sehwag scored 119 runs in 56 balls to help the team win by four wickets against Deccan Chargers, chasing a massive 176-run total. The knock he made had 13 fours and 6 sixes.
The average Sehwag had during his two seasons with Kings Eleven Punjab was 26.76 and 12.37, respectively.
During the 2014 edition, he played the best innings of his career. King XI Punjab’s Sehwag scored 122 runs in the semi-final to help the team advance. This was his first season for the team.
Virender Sehwag, while playing 104 matches over the course of his glorious career, has scored 2728 runs at a strike rate of 155.44 and an average of 27.55.
The financial aspect
Sehwag went on to say that the IPL provided financial benefits to the players as well. Getting 10-12 crores at once, he claims, helps a player feel financially secure. According to him, a player’s worth in the IPL is determined by his appearance for the national squad.
The 39-year-old further praised the IPL as the world’s largest league. He stated that uncapped cricketers from a whole other country are looking forward to competing in the IPL. Sehwag appeared in the Indian premier league and scored 2,728 runs with a strike rate of 27.55.
His last appearance in the IPL was in 2015 when he appeared in 8 matches and scored 99 runs with an avg of 12.37. Sehwag captained the Delhi Daredevils in the first two seasons of the IPL before stepping down to focus on his batting and handing over the captaincy to Gambhir.
However, he was the sole player retained by the club for season 4 of the IPL, again and as skipper of the DD. Sehwag led the side once more in the 5th edition of the tournament when he set a record by becoming the only batter in T20 history to achieve 5 consecutive fifties.
