"Yeh bowling kar raha hai ya bheekh maang raha hai? [Is he bowling or begging?]" -- Virender Sehwag to Pakistan's close-in fielders after Shoaib Akhtar's continuous sledging, asking the right-hander to hook. It even forced Shoaib's team-mates to crack up. It was the Nawab on Najafgarh at his very best. A lot of people will talk about the Sehwag's talent with the bat in hand. He could put the fear of god in the bowlers. He could force them to bowl to him. And he would almost always do it with a speed that fit the word 'blitzkrieg' to a T. But fewer still know that he would almost always destroy the opposition bowlers while casually humming a song. Virender Sehwag | Source: PTI

With him in the middle, the opposition knew there would be no let-up. He had a certain way of doing things and he stuck to that way till the very end -- even when he was weighed down by shoulder injuries or failing eyesight.

Eventually, his record (104 matches, 8586 runs, HI 319 runs, Average 49.34, 23 hundreds, 32 fifties) stands testimony to his greatness but only those who watched him play can explain the sheer exhilaration he inspired -- it went way beyond mere numbers. Nothing was beyond him and the team while he was still in the middle and only the select few attain this sort of stature.

Perhaps he was never as great an ODI player but he still got a double-century and he still inspired fear and joy in equal measure.

Some might consider it sacrilege but it may not be wrong to say that for a while -- Sehwag was the best batsman in the Indian team; better than Sachin; better than Ganguly; better than Laxman and even better than Dravid. When he got going -- and in his prime, he did that very often -- India stood a very good chance of winning the match. He was the game-changer, the X factor... call it what you will.

Ian Chappell once said, "Sehwag can change the course of a match with the ease of Moses parting the Red Sea." Indeed, he helped change the course of Indian cricket with same sense of ease.

He had been out of the team for a while now -- bad form and fitness kept him out. But every time a David Warner got going, one couldn't help but think that he was just a mere imitation.

The swing of the bat, the ready retort, the unshakeable confidence, the twinkle in the eye, the reaching the landmark with a six -- all things that tell us Indian cricket won't be the same without you. So long Sehwag, you'll be missed.