Virender Sehwag reacts to Viv Richards’ ‘more dangerous than Shahid Afridi’ praise: ‘Just kept tradition of bowlers fearing batsmen’

Mayank Bande

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Virender Sehwag reacts to Viv Richards’ ‘more dangerous than Shahid Afridi’ praise: ‘Just kept tradition of bowlers fearing batsmen’ image

Former India opener Virender Sehwag made a name for himself with his swashbuckling style of play and pushing the bowlers on the backfoot early-on in the match.

During his illustrious career, Sehwag was often compared to players like Shahid Afridi and Adam Gilchrist, who batted with a similar approach across formats.

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Weighing on the topic, West Indies legend and multiple World Cup winner Viv Richards spoke highly about Sehwag and termed him as the best of in his generation of explosive batters.

Here's how the Indian legend responded to his praise.

'I just kept the tradition alive': Sehwag reacts to Viv Richards' comments

Richards, who has himself scored 8540 Test runs in 121 matches at an average of 50.23 and a strike rate of 85, was among the first batters who exemplified taking on the bowler in style and putting them under pressure.

In his career which spanned from 1974 to 1991, he accumulated 6721 ODI runs in 187 matches, while striking at 90.20 and maintaining an average of 47.

Speaking of Sehwag, Richards admitted that he saw a reflection of himself, and he felt the Indian was more dangerous than his contemporaries like Shahid Afridi and Adam Gilchrist during the post-2000s era.

Reacting to the praise of the former cricketer, the 46-year-old took to his Twitter (X) to show his gratitude and felt he was just keeping the tradition of explosive batting alive.

"Humbled, Sir @ivivianrichards you made bowlers fear batsmen — I just kept the tradition alive for the next generation. Test cricket will never die as long as there’s joy in attacking it!" he wrote.

What is Virender Sehwag's record in international cricket?

Format	Matches	Innings	Runs	Avg/SR	Highest	50/100
Test	104	180	8586	49.34/82.23	319	32/23
ODIs	251	245	8273	35.05/104.33	219	38/15
T20Is	19	18	394	21.88/145.38	68	2/0

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Mayank Bande

Mayank Bande has been a content producer at The Sporting News since 2023 and has extensive experience in cricket writing. His work has previously appeared on platforms like OneCricket and Last Word on Sports. Beyond cricket, Mayank closely follows football as an FC Barcelona supporter, along with tennis and Olympic sports. Despite holding a degree in Business Administration, he chose to pursue a career in sports, bringing sharp analysis to his writing as someone who once played cricket.