The feelings are reciprocated. “I remember watching him in the 1992 World Cup. That I was the first time I watched live cricket on television. It’s very difficult to explain the shots he played. He used to play over point, play the pull-shot... at that time nobody thought of batting like that — scores of 200-220 were declared safe, but that changed immediately,” says Sehwag.

Nowadays, scores of 200-220 are not safe even in Twenty20 games, and that has put a lot of pressure on players in the Sehwag mould. “The pressure is not about performing, I know that I will get a century or a fifty in one game or the other. The pressure is to win all the matches,” he says, even as his Delhi Daredevils prepare for battle against Chennai in a crucial battle to regain top slot in the points table.