Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has heaped massive praise on ex-opener Virender Sehwag. According to Ganguly, Sehwag is the greatest India opener after Sunil Gavaskar. Sehwag, who played for India from 1999 to 2013, was one of the most fearless batters the world of cricket ever witnessed. He played 104 Tests and 251 ODIs, scoring 8586 and 8273, runs respectively. In 19 T20Is, Sehwag scored 394 runs. He was part of the Indian team that won the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 Cricket World Cup.

Ganguly made the statement in the trailer of “The Greatest Rivalry – India vs Pakistan”, a documentary series on the cricketing rivalry between India and Pakistan. The documentary is set to premiere on Netflix on February 7.

“After (Sunil) Gavaskar, the greatest opener is Virender Sehwag,” said Ganguly.

Ex-India opener Sehwag made his ODI debut against arch-rivals Pakistan in 1999 and played his first Test against South Africa in 2001. He is the only Indian batter to have scored two triple centuries in Test cricket. Overall, Sehwag is the fourth batter to have achieved the feat, with Don Bradman, Chris Gayle and Brian Lara being the other ones to reach the milestone.

The right-handed batsman also scored a double century in the ODI format. He slammed 219 runs against the West Indies in 2011.

Sehwag hit 23 centuries and 32 half-centuries in the longest format of the game. He was also adjudged ICC Test player of the year in 2010 as he scored 1,282 runs in 10 Test matches, including six centuries.

In ODIs, Sehwag smashed 15 hundreds and 38 half-centuries.

Sehwag, who was also known as the ‘Nawab of Najfgarh’, was a threatening presence for bowlers during his peak days. With his zeal and ferocious approach to scoring runs quickly, he developed an unbelievable career. The right-handed batter went on to amass over 16,000 runs for India across all formats, cementing his place in Indian cricket’s pantheon.