Former India [ Images ] captain Sourav Ganguly [ Images ] feels that dashing opener Virender Sehwag [ Images ] will take some more time to be in the same league as legendary West Indian batsman, Vivian Richards [ Images ].

"(Virender) Sehwag has reached very close to him, but it will take some more time for him to cross Viv Richards [ Images ]. As of now, I think Richards is a bit ahead. He is in a different league altogether," Ganguly said during the shooting of a TV quiz show on Sunday.

But the ace left-hander was all-praise for Sehwag, who had missed out on a record third Test triple century after getting out for 293 against Sri Lanka [ Images ] in Mumbai [ Images ].

"Sehwag is an outstanding player. I have played with him and so its natural that I will be a bit biased towards him. But I would still give Richards more marks," Ganguly said of Sehwag, who stormed into the top five of the ICC [ Images ] Test rankings after his superlative double-century in the third Test against Sri Lanka.

It was during Ganguly's captaincy that Sehwag got elevated to the opener's role, a move the Delhi [ Images ] dasher had described as the turning point of his career.

"I shall always be grateful to Sourav (Ganguly). He was the one who brought me up from middle-order to open the innings. He told me that if I don't perform as an opener then I will be shifted to the middle-order," the swash-buckling opener had said last week.