Virender Sehwag, the dashing opener thought of quitting the game in the ODI format in 2008. In a recent interaction, Virender Sehwag said he wanted to retire from ODI cricket during the Australia tour in 2008 after the then India captain MS Dhoni had dropped him for a few games.
Close to 7 years after announcing his retirement from international cricket, Virender Sehwag is still considered to be one of the most destructive opening batters to have ever played the game. Chances are high that it will remain the same for many years to come.
Virender Sehwag Thought Of Retiring From ODIs In 2008 But Was Stopped By Sachin Tendulkar Who Insisted That He’s Going Through A Lean Phase
There was a point in Virender Sehwag’s career when the dashing opener thought of quitting the game during the Australia tour in 2008 after the then India captain MS Dhoni had dropped him for a few games.
“In 2008 when we were in Australia, this question (of retirement) came to my mind. I made a comeback in the Test series, and scored a 150. In the ODIs, I couldn’t score that much in three-four attempts. So MS Dhoni dropped me from the playing XI then the thought of quitting ODI cricket came to my mind. I thought I will continue playing only Test cricket,” Sehwag said.
Virender Sehwag who had made a roaring comeback a month ago in the Test side under former spinner Anil Kumble’s captaincy played only 5 out of India’s 10 matches in the Commonwealth Bank tri-series featuring hosts Australia and Sri Lanka that followed it.
The swashbuckling right-hander was dropped from the playing XI after scoring only 6, 33, 11, and 14 in India’s first four matches in the 2008 tri-series. After being kept away from the XI for the two matches in Adelaide, Virender Sehwag was once again brought back into the XI in the next league match against Australia in Sydney but another failure (14) from the right-hander meant he was axed again.
India went on to achieve a historic win by beating Australia 2-0 in the best of three finals of that CB series but Virender Sehwag did not play any part after that match on February 24. Virender Sehwag also revealed that it was Sachin Tendulkar who stopped him from announcing his retirement from the ODI format during that Australia tour.
“Sachin Tendulkar stopped me at that time. He said ‘this is a bad phase of your life. Just wait, go back home after this tour, think hard and then decide what to do next’. Luckily I didn’t announce my retirement at that time,” he said.
Virender Sehwag went on to play for another 7 to 8 years for India in all three formats of the game and even won the ODI World Cup in 2011. Virender Sehwag also had become just the second player in the history of ODI cricket to score a double century. as he went on to score 219 runs against West Indies in 2011.
In his cricketing career, Virender Sehwag played 251 ODIs and 104 Tests for India amassing 8,273 and 8,586 runs respectively. The Delhi-based batsman also has scored two triple hundreds for India in Tests.
Virender Sehwag : Virat Kohli Likes Challenges
The former right-hander shared this story when he was asked about whether Virat Kohli will be considering taking a break from cricket due to his prolonged dry run with the bat.
“There are two types of players – Those who like challenges, they have fun in such situations and Virat is one of those. He listens to all the criticism, reacts on the field by scoring runs to prove them wrong.
“The other type are the ones who are unaffected by all the noise because at the end of the day they know what they need to do. I was that kind of player. I didn’t care who criticised me. I wanted to play, score runs and go home,” Sehwag added.
Virat Kohli, the ex-Royal Challengers Bangalore’s skipper wrapped up IPL 2022 scoring just 341 runs in 16 innings at 22.73, with a strike rate of 115.99. The tally includes two fifties and three golden-duck dismissals. Virat Kohli’s last IPL century came against Kolkata Knight Riders in 2019, when he smashed 100 runs off just 58 balls.
It has been almost two and a half years since Virat Kohli scored a century in any format of the game. He put Bangladesh to the sword in the Test format and hit 136 runs off 170 balls in November 2019.