Virender Sehwag Floors Sourav Ganguly With One-Liner After Blazing Fifty In Ice Cricket

Virender Sehwag turned back the clock with a blazing half-century for the Diamonds XI against the Shahid Afridi-led Royals XI at the inaugural St Moritz Ice Cricket Challenge on Thursday. Sehwag wasn't undone by the unusual conditions or distracted by the backdrop of breathtaking Alpine range, hitting five sixes as he scored 62 off 31 balls. Following his exploits in the resort town of St Moritz in temperatures below zero degrees, Sehwag took to Twitter and posted a brilliant one-liner about his knock. The post was a massive hit and also found a fan in the form of ex-India captain Sourav Ganguly.

Courtesy Sehwag's quickfire half-century and Symonds' 40 the Diamonds' XI finished with 164 for nine from 20 overs. Former England batsman Owais Shah was the match-winner, however, hitting five sixes in his innings of 74 as Afridi's team won the match with nearly five overs to spare.

The match, played on a frozen lake with temperatures hovering around minus five degrees, featured former stars like Michael Hussey, Shoaib Akhtar and Mahela Jayawardene.

An artificial turf carpet was used for the match, with players using traditional cricket gear and a pink ball, but wearing normal sports shoes rather than spikes.

"It is an exciting concept and needs to be persisted with and it can only grow in people's minds. It can also help St Moritz become a good sports tourism destination," Sehwag had told PTI.

St Moritz had hosted two Winter Olympic Games in 1928 and 1948 but now the Swiss Tourism wants to promote it actively as a new tourist hub.