Virender Sehwag (born 20 October 1978), affectionately known as Viru, the Nawab of Najafgarh, or the Zen master of modern cricket,is one of the leading batsmen in the Indian cricket team. Sehwag is an aggressive right-handed opening batsman and a part-time right-arm off-spin bowler. He played his first One Day International in 1999 and joined the Indian Test cricket team in 2001. In April 2009, Sehwag became the only Indian to be honored as the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World for his performance in 2008,subsequently becoming the first player of any nationality to retain the award for 2009.