Sachin Tendulkar sacrificed opening slot for Virender Sehwag in ODIs – Ajay Ratra

Former Indian wicket-keeper batsman Ajay Ratra has revealed that Sachin Tendulkar sacrificed his opening slot for Virender Sehwag in One Day Internationals. Tendulkar had achieved great success while opening the batting in the 50-overs format and thus it was not an easy decision to demote him in the batting order.

However, as Sehwag had to bat as an opener to get the best out of him, Sachin decided to bat in the middle order to help the team’s combination. Sehwag then opened the innings with Sourav Ganguly and thus India were able to continue with the left-hand and right-hand combination.

In fact, Ganguly always wanted to bat Virender Sehwag as an opener to make the most of Sehwag’s attacking batting. Thus, Sehwag savoured success as an opener and made most of the powerplay conditions.

Meanwhile, Sachin Tendulkar was not able to have the same impact in the middle order. The legendary batsman scored 2059 runs in 65 ODI matches at an average of 38.84 when he batted at number four position.

Ratra revealed that Tendulkar decided to bat at number four to help the team’s cause. In fact, had Sachin not agreed to bat in the middle order, it could have been a different story altogether for Virender Sehwag.

“Sachin was doing so well as an opener at that time but Sehwag had to open. So Sachin offered to bat at No.4. Sehwag then opened with Dada (Sourav Ganguly) for that left and right combination. If Sachin hadn’t agreed then Viru probably would have had to bat lower. He wouldn’t have got the chance to open in ODIs and the story could have been a lot different,” said Ratra in a chat with Hindustan Times.

Sachin Tendulkar was always a team man and wanted to contribute as much as he could to the team’s win. On the other hand, Virender Sehwag mostly opened in his illustrious career and scored 8273 runs in 251 ODI matches at an average of 35.05. Sehwag also scored his runs at a strike rate of 104.33 and he was able to hit the ground running.

Meanwhile, Sachin Tendulkar opened in 344 ODI innings in which he scored 15310 runs at an average of 48.29. Overall, Sachin scored 18426 runs in 463 ODI matches at an average of 44.83. Tendulkar had a fine career and he ticked the right boxes as he savoured success.