Three things have never changed in the minds of millions of cricket lovers across the world.  Firstly Sir Don Bradman is considered the best batsman ever to play the game.  Secondly Sachin Tendulkar is second only to the legendary Don and thirdly Vivian Richards has been the most destructive batsman in the world.  While the first two facts cannot be disputed the third one needs to be disputed as atleast two cricketerscan have claimed to have surpassed Richards when it comes to destructive abilities. Let us analyze the performance of two of the modern day greats who have changed the way test matches are played:-

Adam Gilchrist:- The legendary Australian is a 3 in one package, a wicket keeper, a batsman who plays through the line and a big hitter. Adam Gilchrist changed the way test matches are played.  Whether he comes in at 375 for 5 or 75 for 5 he plays in the same way and has been one big reason for Australians demolising their opponents.  Gilchrist is one batsman who changed a game in a session and Viv Richards though rated highly and rightly so has never been as ferocious with the bat as Gilchrist was.  Gilchrist inspite of being a wicket keeper finished with a average of 47.60 which is just 2.63 behind Richards.  Apart from this Gilchrist has the distinction of being the only player in the history of test matches to have hit 100 sixes and his strike rate of 81.95 is the best every in the history of test matches. Gilchrist finished his career with 17 centuries which is just 7fewer than Richards and Gilchrist's performance is all the more creditable become he comes very low in the order with tailenders for company which eliminates the chances of getting centuries while Viv Richards had the luxury of batting high up in the order. While Adam Gilchirst finished with a career average which is a shade lower than Richards, he scores heavily over Richards because of the fact that is probably the best all rounder in the history of the game if you can define wicket keepers as all rounds as he finished his career with a world record 379 catches and 37 stumpings.

Virender Sehwag:- Our own Sehwag has to be rated the most destructive player ever in the history of test matches on par with Gilchrist or may be a shade higher.  Let us look at the career stats of Sehwag.  Sehwag has 7152 test runs in 139 innings  compared to Viv Richards 8540 in as many as 182 innings.  Sehwag has 21 hundreds compared to Richards 24 and should be able to overtake him comfortably and should finish far ahead of Richards by the time he calls it a day.  While Richards strike rate is not known one can safely assume that Richards strike rate is nowhere close to Sehwag's 81.82.  Sehwag and Richards have hit 80 and 84 sixes respectively and while Richards hit 4 sixes more he played as many as 43 innings more than Sehwag.

Sehwags runs can be considered more valuable than Richards because he opens the innings and the risks are more considering the fact that he has the tougher task of countering conditions conducive to bowlers early in the innings.  Another thing in Sehwag's favour is that he has had to face bowlers who bowl close to 100 miles per hour while Richards apart having the luxury of coming behind the likes of Greenidge and company also had the luxury of facing bowlers who bowled at around 80 miles per hour.

When it comes to contribution to their respective countries Sehwag's contribution has been more valuable because he has had to shoulder the responsibility along with Sachin Tendulkar in a batting line up which has always been suspect against quality bowling while Richards had the luxury of just coming and having a go and the bowlers with no pressure or fear whatsoever.  If  one were to compare both of them from their secondary role as part time bowlers again Sehwag scores as Richards as he is more than a part time bowler.  Sehwag bowls classical spin while Richards just ambles through and delivers the ball.   Richards was fortunate enough to pick a few cheap wickets as batsmen went after him as they were unable to get runs against the famed pace quartet of Holding, Marshall, Garner and Roberts. In the case of Sehwag he was used as a partnership breaker and a genuine back up bowler.

If one were to go by the above analysis you can safely say that Sehwag and Gilchrist are almost on par at the top as the most destructive batsmen in the history of test matches while Richards comes a shade lower.