3 Indian middle-order batsmen who went on to become great openers 

#2 Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag was the 2nd batsman in the world to score a double century in ODI cricket:219

The legendary pairing of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly was more than enough to keep any other opener out of the team, let alone a batsman who did not even open for his state team. But much like Dhoni's move to open the innings with Rohit, it was Ganguly who promoted Virender Sehwag to open the innings for the then India team alongside Tendulkar.

This move which came at the cost of Ganguly's batting position, paid dividends in the longer run, which was greatly influenced by Sehwag Test heroics as an opener. The move achieved its full attainment in the 2011 World Cup where Viru scored a boundary off the first ball of every innings he batted in barring the final game of the tournament.

RECORD BEFORE OPENING: 33 INNINGS/ 755 RUNS/ AVG:18.39/ 1 100's/ 3 50's/ STR:86.07 /HIGHEST:114

Virender Sehwag will always be remembered for his intimidatory strokeplay and the devil may care attitude that made Indian team a formidable side to beat.

RECORD AFTER OPENING: 212 INNINGS/ 7518 RUNS/ AVG:36.50/ 14 100's/ 35 50's/ STR:104.71 /HIGHEST:219

CURRENT RECORD: 245 INNINGS/ 8273 RUNS/ AVG:35.06/ 15 100's/ 38 50's/ STR:104.33 /HIGHEST:219