During a recent interaction with popular Youtuber Ranveer Allahabadia, former Indian batter turned commentator Aakash Chopra revealed how Virender Sehwag had this ‘at your face’ demeanor, but also possessed a clean heart at the same time.
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One of the fierce opening batters of his time, Sehwag would not even hesitate to even showcase his vulnerable side and would let Chopra know that he won’t be facing a particular bowler(s) because he felt they are managing to extract considerable swing.
Chopra recollected a particular Test match in Sydney, where Sehwag would straightaway tell him that he wouldn’t be facing the Aussie pacer Brett Lee, as he was managing to swing the ball considerably well and was perhaps likely to get Out to him. He in fact categorically told Chopra that he would rather face Jason Gillespie from the other end (with the new ball).
Virender Sehwag once hilariously trolled Sourav Ganguly over lack of runs as captain
Aakash Chopra further went on to say that despite Sehwag having this tendency to speak his heart out, nobody in the team would ever feel offended with his words, as they knew they weren’t ill-intentioned.
Having played under Sourav Ganguly for quite a few years, Sehwag once even made the former aware of the fact that he (Ganguly) was not really performing well as a batter, and that his place in the side might be at risk despite being the team skipper!
“Vo dada (Ganguly) ko bhi bolta tha ki ‘Dada baki sab to theek hai, dekh lo, kaptaan ho par run banane padenge. Nahi to drop ho jaoge’. He was brilliant, and nobody took him badly kyunki Viru was so honest [He even used to tell dada (Ganguly) that dada everything else aside, you’re the captain alright but you’ve still gotta score runs. Else you’d be dropped. He was brilliant, and nobody took him badly because Viru was so honest],” remarked Aakash Chopra during the interaction.
Virender Sehwag hilariously accused coach John Wright of being biased in favour of Sachin Tendulkar
Chopra further went on to state that Sehwag even didn’t spare to pull the then Indian team coach John Wright’s leg as well, and reminded him that he is being treated differently by him than Sachin Tendulkar.
“He said ‘John, I will write a complaint against you, that you are treating me differently than Sachin. Why? Because Sachin is a great player? I’ll write to the BCCI president’,” Chopra further added while describing Sehwag’s personality.
