Virender Sehwag – Biography, Wiki, Personal Details, Age, Height

Virender Sehwag is a former India opening batter from Najafgarh, Delhi, who played for the country from 1999 to 2013 and was part of the squads that won the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 World Cup. The only Indian with two Test triple-centuries, he was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame in 2023. Since 26 September 2026 he has been doing something new: hosting Rise and Fall 2 on Prime Video and MX Player, the power game in which celebrities are split into Rulers and Workers.

Image: Flying Cloud, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Early Life and Family

Sehwag was born on 20 October 1978 in Najafgarh, in South West Delhi, which is why the press later called him the “Nawab of Najafgarh”. The family’s roots are in Haryana, and his father Krishan traded in grain; according to Wikipedia, Virender was the third of four children of Krishan and Krishna Sehwag, with two older sisters, Manju and Anju, and a younger brother, Vinod. It was a joint household with uncles, aunts and sixteen cousins under one roof.

His father liked to say the cricket began with a toy bat given to the boy at seven months. Virender studied at Arora Vidya School in Delhi and nagged his parents to let him play, arguing that academics were not his strength. A broken tooth in 1990 nearly ended it, since his father wanted to ban the game after the injury, but his mother took the boy’s side. He trained under coach Amar Nath Sharma, and he went on to graduate from Jamia Millia Islamia.

Cricket Career

Sehwag’s first-class debut for Delhi came in the 1997–98 season, and a heavy run of scores in the Duleep and Ranji trophies pushed him towards the national side. The start was rough: in his first ODI, against Pakistan at Mohali in April 1999, he was lbw to Shoaib Akhtar for 1, and he did not get another game for some time. The turning point came in Sri Lanka in August 2001, when an injury to Sachin Tendulkar opened up the top of the order and Sehwag, promoted to open, hit his maiden ODI century off 69 balls against New Zealand. His Test debut followed in November 2001 at Bloemfontein, where he made 105 in the middle order.

From there he became the most feared opener of his generation. In the first Test at Multan in early 2004 he scored 309, the first triple century by an Indian in Tests, a knock that gave him the nickname “Multan Ka Sultan”. In 2008 at Chennai he bettered it with 319 against South Africa, reaching 300 off 278 balls, the fastest triple century in Test history, which made him only the third batter after Don Bradman and Brian Lara with two Test triples. In ODIs he struck a 60-ball hundred in March 2009, then the fastest by an Indian, and on 8 December 2011 at Indore he made 219 against the West Indies, at the time the highest individual ODI score. That left him, with Chris Gayle, one of just two men with an ODI double hundred and a Test triple hundred.

He was India’s vice-captain under Rahul Dravid from October 2005 and stood in as captain on occasion. He was a member of the sides that shared the 2002 Champions Trophy, won the 2007 T20 World Cup and lifted the 2011 World Cup at home, where he opened the tournament with 175 against Bangladesh, as Gulf News recalled. Wisden named him its Leading Cricketer in the World for 2008, the first Indian so honoured, and again for 2009. His honours also include the Arjuna Award (2002), the BCCI’s Polly Umrigar Award (2007), ICC Test Cricketer of the Year (2010) and the Padma Shri (2010).

In the IPL he captained Delhi Daredevils in the league’s first two seasons before handing the job to Gautam Gambhir, was the only player the franchise retained for the fourth season, and finished his T20 career with Kings XI Punjab. An ANI profile carried by newkerala.com on his birthday in October 2026 summed up the numbers: 8,586 Test runs in 104 matches with 23 centuries, 8,273 ODI runs in 251 games with 15 hundreds, 136 international wickets with his part-time off-spin, and 2,728 IPL runs in 104 matches. He played his last Test in March 2013 and announced his retirement from international cricket and the IPL on 20 October 2015, his 37th birthday, in a statement on the BCCI website that opened by paraphrasing Mark Twain. In November 2023 the ICC inducted him into its Hall of Fame alongside Aravinda de Silva and Diana Edulji, with an on-field ceremony at the Wankhede Stadium during the World Cup semi-final; he said he was grateful to have spent so much of his life “hitting the cricket ball”.

Career at a glance

Virender Sehwag as Host of Rise and Fall 2 (2026)

On 11 September 2026 the first promo of Rise and Fall Season 2 was unveiled with Sehwag confirmed as its host, his first job fronting a streaming show. The format, created by Studio Lambert in the UK and produced in India by Banijay Asia, puts a group of celebrities in a tower: the Rulers enjoy the penthouse and take the decisions, while the Workers live in the basement and grind for the prize money, and anyone can move up or down as the game turns. Ashneer Grover presented the first season, which Arjun Bijlani won in October 2025; Sehwag replaces him for season 2.

In the launch press release, quoted by ANI via newkerala.com, he drew the obvious cricket parallel: “Cricket has taught me one thing-no match is won before the final ball, and Rise and Fall Season 2 takes that unpredictability to another level.” Prime Video India’s Amogh Dusad said the broadcaster wanted his “wit, spontaneity, and fearless personality” in the host’s chair.

The season premiered on 26 September 2026 with 15 contestants and a run of 42 days, with a new episode every day at 12 noon on Prime Video and the MX Player by Prime Video app, according to Brut and Esquire India. The cast mixes television, film, politics and social media: Swara Bhasker, Gautam Gulati, Karan Patel, Priyanka Chahar Choudhary, Shehzad Poonawalla, Tej Pratap Yadav, Niharika Tiwari, Irina Rudakova, Siwet Tomar, Sara Gurpal, Kajal Raghwani and others. By late October, Adgully and Filmibeat were reporting that Gautam Gulati had become the “ultimate ruler” and renamed the tower Gautam City, with Sehwag steering the drama from the host’s position.

Every contestant on the season he hosts, with their current status, is listed on our Rise and Fall 2 contestants list.

Personal Life

Sehwag married Aarti Ahlawat in April 2004; the wedding, held under tight security, was hosted by the then Union law minister Arun Jaitley at his residence, per Wikipedia. They have two sons. Aryavir arrived on 18 October 2007 and his younger brother Vedant in 2010. The elder boy, whose name cricket reports spell Aaryavir, has followed his father into the game and made his Vinoo Mankad Trophy debut for Delhi in October 2024 with 49 against Manipur, Outlook India reported, and on 16 October 2026, opening and captaining Delhi Under-19 against Chandigarh, he hit 173 off 143 balls, 124 of them in boundaries, according to Wisden.

Away from the game, Sehwag opened Sehwag International School in Jhajjar, Haryana, in 2011, a residential school where children can study and train; his mother inaugurated it and he has described it as his father’s dream. In October 2017 the DDCA named Gate No. 2 of the Arun Jaitley Stadium after him.

Image: Riana, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Lesser-Known Facts

• He famously sang while batting, and named Kishore Kumar’s “Chala Jaata Hoon” from Mere Jeevan Saathi as his go-to tune at the crease.
• He made his Test debut in the middle order, not as an opener, and still scored a century.
• Wisden’s Almanack called him the “most exciting opener in the world” back in 2005, before either of his triple centuries at home.
• He was the top run-scorer of the 2002 Champions Trophy with 271 runs and played for the ICC World XI against Australia in 2005.
• A short county spell with Leicestershire in 2003 was cut short by a back injury.
• He chose his own retirement date well in advance, picking his 37th birthday.
• Rise and Fall 2 is the first streaming show he has hosted.

FAQ About Virender Sehwag

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