On the other end of the ring, we have today a legend from Barbados, Desmond Haynes - one half of the glorious opening pair that ruled the very roost in the 80s. With Gordon Greenidge at the other end, Haynes created symphony among the islands of the Caribbean and beyond. While his legacy in Test cricket transcends time, he was a giant of ODI cricket during his era - something that gave him a cult figure during Windies’ second World Cup triumph in 1979.

So what has connected the duo as a whole? Let’s find out in our July 17 edition of Friday Fights. There you go.

Okay. This is a quiz for you. What do you reckon? Who would win? Well, don’t get confused so much because the burly Barbadian had sent his message loud and clear to the Nawab of Najafgarh. With a career average of 41.37, Haynes has 6.32 more than Virender Sehwag’s ODI career average to take the first-round honours.

With the career advantage already in the kitty, Can Haynes win this round too? Well, it seems he doesn’t as his average of 32.26 is a tad lower than Delhiite's 35.61. With only one rating point to separate them in this very round, it would be nice to have another roaring comeback by the former West Indies opener. 

A little bit of trivia before we go into the real point. When Desmond Haynes retired in 1994 from ODI cricket, no one had scored more ODI runs than him, no one had played more ODIs than him, and no one had more centuries to their name than him. That alone talks about his incredible dominance during his time and if you need any more validation, then this note would solve that once and for all - Haynes scored 67.71 runs per dismissal in ODI cricket as compared to Sehwag’s 35.85. You now know who the real boss is, don’t you?

Hayne seems like having a Sehwag-size meal here as for the third time this battle, he has come out on top of the Indian. His average of 39.50 in the neutral venues triumphs Sehwag’s 33.38 and think what? That alone gives the Barbadian a three-point advantage in the contest. Sehwag needs to pull up his socks here for sure. 

Haynes in his career has played only in World Cups while Sehwag had both World Cup and Champions Trophy into account. That said, Sehwag for the second time this bout, has been able to take a lead over the Barbadian, with a 4.82 superior average. That salvages some hope for Sehwag, but there is a long road ahead.

This is a tricky round. Sehwag was one of the finest and most attacking batsmen of his time, ending his career with a strike rate over 100. On the other hand, Haynes operated during a time when only three opening batsmen, among the players to have scored more than 1000 runs as an opener, scored above 70 SR and that was quite a challenge. To compensate for the 39% difference between the SR of two legends, we would go for the relative, ensuring the rating talks more about the time they lived on the cricket field. That would mean Haynes has 7 as compared to Sehwag’s 10. Hope we did some justice here.

Well, here are two majestic performers, who once gets going would be extremely hard to tame. But there is a clear sort of trend to identify the legend of Najafgarh and Barbados. While Sehwag converted 39.47% of his 50s to 100s, Haynes did that only 22.97% of times, ensuring a three-point difference in total. It seems like Sehwag is making a fantastic comeback here. Hang on, Guys. We have a thriller in our hands.

Haynes is back and how! A part of the all-conquering set-up of Windies in the 80s, Haynes makes everyone stand up and take notice with his 40 half-centuries in winning causes while India’s fragile nature in the 2000s resulted in the side winning only 28 games when Sehwag scored a half-century for India. More than the batsmen themselves, this is a true representation of the teams they played for. 

Well, the figure turned upside down in the 100s with Sehwag’s 14 corresponded to Haynes’ 10 as far as 100s in winning causes is concerned. With Sehwag taking this round, we are sure to have to approach a fascinating end to this bout.

This is almost like pulling off a rook manoeuvre in the same move. Oh, my dear. To challenge Sehwag’s 17 fifty-plus scores in successful chases, Haynes has his 16 to show - almost an equidistant paraphrase - to ensure the last round is nothing but electric research. Let’s get that rolling with 10-9 this round. 

Why I am siding with the average in H2H clashes is for the simple fact that when Haynes operated, India were fundamentally a weaker side in world cricket, irrespective of the World Cup win of 1983. The same holds true for Sehwag, during his time Windies failed to impress in world cricket. That said, this makes for a fair indicator of legacy which the Indian failed to muster with an average of 33.44 as compared to Haynes’ 42.4. 

FINAL SCORE -  Sehwag - 94  Haynes - 97