Virender Sehwag hung his cricket boots from all forms of international cricket as well as the lPL, after a splendid career, amazing cricket fans with his willow. The Delhi batsman played 104 Test matches, 251 ODIs and 19 T20Is for India.
The swashbuckling opener, who was a joy to watch, said he feel lucky to have played alongside players such as Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh and more.
"I am lucky that played for the country with great players like Sachin, Dravid, Ganguly, Anil Kumble, VVS Laxman, Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan, MS Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj. I learnt a lot from them, the way they played and the way they prepared for games," said Sehwag.
Sehwag, who loved taking on bowlers, was one of the most feared batsmen in world cricket in his prime, as he had an unusual knack of scoring boundaries from good balls as well. No bowler in world cricket could stop him from scoring when in full flow, and when he scored, it was always at a brisk rate, which helped India set up totals or chase targets with ease.
Irrespective of the opposition or the pitch conditions, Sehwag was very positive in his batting approach, which helped him score a lot of runs on the international circuit. Sehwag finished his bright cricketing career with 8586 Test runs, 8273 ODI runs and 394 T20I runs.
"I played my game. My funda was to score on every ball and bowl a bit if I can. I want to hit every ball, it's see the ball and hit it. I always had positive mindest. That is how I played the game. Because of the positive mindset, I was able to score a lot of runs," added Sehwag.
Initially, critics were harsh on the India opener, who was thought to be a batsman only suited for ODIs. However, Sehwag's 8586 Test runs shows he was a great batsman in white clothing as well.
With so many Test runs under his belt, Sehwag is the fifth on the list of all-time run-scorers for India, and one position above one of the greats -- Ganguly.
Sehwag, who broke into the international scene under the leadership of Ganguly, was full praise for the former India captain. Sehwag thanked Ganguly for giving him his first Test cap in Bloemfontein in 2001 with the batsman going on to score an amazing hundred against South Africa in his first match.
Ganguly even sacrificed his opening slot in ODIs for Sehwag, who began to dominate world cricket with his attacking intent.
"Ganguly sacrificed his opening spot for me, he loved me and had confidence in me. So, thank you Sourav, I am grateful to you. You saw me as a Test player. Had I not played in Tests, I would not have scored these many runs," Sehwag said.
