Virender Sehwag, the super explosive batsman of Indian Cricket team has bid goodbye to his cricketing career but the pain of not getting a chance to take retirement while playing for the country, can still be felt in his words and his face expressions. He affirms that the pain of being “deprived of a farewell game shall always remain” in his mind.
While talking in a TV interview, Virender said, “Had the selectors told me that they were going to drop me, I could have requested them to allow me to play my last Test in Delhi and then announce my retirement, but they did not give me that opportunity.”
He further added, “A sort of sadness shall always remain in my mind that I was not allowed to retire while playing, but anyway, it’s all a part of life for a sportsman, who, while playing, never realizes when he should retire, but he starts thinking about it when he is dropped.”
Virender Sehwag has an impeccable record of 23 centuries in Test matches and 15 centuries in One-Day Internationals.
Virender’s pain was explicitly visible when he said, “I would like to ask: Should not a player who has played 12 to 13 years for his country, deserve a farewell match?”
When he was asked about the plan of organizers to felicitate him during the upcoming Test Match in Delhi, which is going to be being played between India and South Africa on Dec 3, he said, “If that is so, it will be good. If BCCI cannot organize, at least DDCA should do. It’s not a question of me alone, every player who retires should get a farewell.”
Virender wants that there should be fixed criteria for selecting players, irrespective of senior or junior, he suggested, “If a player fails to perform in four or five consecutive matches, he should be dropped irrespective of whether he is a senior or a junior player.”
He also narrated an incident which involved Sachin Tendulkar and Australian cricketer Michael Clarke, “I and Sachin were batting in Australia. Michael Clarke had been inducted fresh. He was frequently telling Sachin ‘you’re too old, you can’t field, you can’t do this, you can’t do that’. I went up to Clarke and asked his age. He said, 23. I told him Tendulkar has made more centuries than your age”.
He also talked about his performance against Pakistan, “Had India played two more Test series against Pakistan, I could have completed 10,000 Test runs. I have made 8,586 Test runs. We stopped playing home series or away series against Pakistan since 2006. If you see my batting averages particularly against Pakistan, you will find my batting averages between 90 and 100.”
When he was asked about his amazing performances especially against Pakistan, he replied, “It’s because of rivalry between both countries in sports. The grounds are always full, and the expectations among fans are high. This is because Pakistan was earlier a part of undivided India, that’s why the rivalry is big and everybody becomes excited.”
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