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Updated December 29th, 2019 at 11:50 IST

Ganguly hails Sehwag as the 'biggest match-winner in that generation', calls him special

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly hailed former Indian opener Virender Sehwag as the biggest match-winner of that generation and compared him to Sunil Gavaskar

Reported by: Koushik Narayanan
Ganguly
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BCCI President Sourav Ganguly hailed former Indian opener Virender Sehwag as the biggest match-winner of that generation and compared the fiery Delhi opener to the legendary Sunil Gavaskar. Ganguly and Sehwag have shared the dressing room for many years as the latter played under the captaincy of the former and enjoyed vast success with the bat for Team India. The Nawab of Nazafgarh was an integral part of the Indian opening for many years and went on to dominate and terrorize bowlers over the years. 

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Known to be one of the most destructive batsmen, Sehwag and Gambhir went on to establish themselves as a deadly opener duo that could single-handedly pile misery on the opposition. Sehwag became a regular for Team India during the tenure of Ganguly as the team's skipper and grew over the years, shattering many records in the process. Ganguly is also instrumental in making Sehwag the most-feared opener as it was he who promoted Sehwag up the order and cemented his place in the side as an opener. 

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Ganguly hails Sehwag as the biggest match-winner

Former Team India skipper Ganguly called Virender Sehwag the biggest match-winner of that generation and revealed how he motivated Sehwag to become an opener. Divulging into the details in a conversation with a news daily, Ganguly said revealed that he had asked Sehwag to step out of his comfort zone in order to succeed. Further, Ganguly drew a comparison between Little Master Sunil Gavaskar and Sehwag and said that latter was not far behind the former from being the best Indian opener. Explaining how both the openers were different, Ganguly said that Gavaskar decided to let the ball pass ny the off-stump in order to make it old while Sehwag took the ball on and smashed it around the park to make it old. 

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Virender Sehwag to deliver Pataudi Lecture 2020

According to reports, it was speculated that Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar could deliver the memorial lecture, which has been organised by the BCCI since 2013. However, Tendulkar has some other commitments, due to which the board finally decided to go ahead with Virender Sehwag, who has played 104 Tests, 251 ODIs and 19 T20Is for India. The Pataudi Memorial Lecture was established to honour the former Indian captain, who passed away in 2011. The inaugural lecture was delivered by Sunil Gavaskar on February 20, 2013, at the Taj Coromandel Hotel in Chennai.

In the past, Sunil Gavaskar, Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid, and Farokh Engineer have delivered the lecture. Last year, former England batsman Kevin Pietersen had delivered the lecture in Bengaluru. When contacted, Virender Sehwag himself confirmed the development by claiming that he had accepted Ganguly's offer for the honour.

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Published December 29th, 2019 at 11:50 IST

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