Virender Sehwag is not only renowned till date for his ability to bat aggressively right from the get-go, but also for his carefree and casual demeanor both on and off-the-field of play. Also known for expressing his opinions without the use of politically correct filters, he had taken this side of his personality to a next level when he indirectly expressed his displeasure with the selection committee by deciding against batting any longer the first powerplay during India’s tour of Bangladesh 2007.
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During an interaction with cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar for Sports18 last year, Sehwag revealed a hilarious reason for his decision which had to do with the scorching summer heat in Bangladesh in the month of May.
“I went to Bangladesh to play three ODIs and wasn’t part of the Test team. And I had no interest in playing those three ODIs. My mindset was that I’d only bat during the powerplay, score as much as I can, but won’t sweat in the summer heat because I was very much invested in playing Test cricket at the time and was not so much into ODI cricket,” Sehwag told Sports18.
Before getting out in the seventh over in the first ODI in Mirpur, readers must note that Sehwag had raced away to a fluent 30 (21) comprising seven fours. In the second match at the same venue, he had got out in the eighth over after scoring 21 (26) with the help of a four and six each. The third ODI in Chittagong was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
For the unversed, until 2008, the first 10 overs of the mandatory powerplay allowed two fielders outside the 30-yard circle and a couple of them at catching positions within the circle.
Test Snub Had Hurt Virender Sehwag
It is worth mentioning that the real reason behind Sehwag’s lack of interest in playing the above mentioned ODI series was him getting dropped from the Test squad. Despite then-captain Rahul Dravid and head coach Greg Chappell hailing him as a “match-winner“ and “best asset“ during India’s tour of South Africa 2006-07, Virender Sehwag was left out of the next Test assignment in Bangladesh.
The former Indian batter, who hasn’t been provided with a rationale for the move till date, questioned the then chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar’s decision of axing with after not performing in just three Tests.
“Suddenly, after playing three Test matches there [in South Africa], out of which I got out cheaply during the first two and had then scored some 40-odd runs at No. 7 [in the third], I couldn’t understand because no one had hardly scored any runs there,” Sehwag remarked.
“Dravid, [Sachin] Tendulkar and [VVS] Laxman had scored one half-century apiece. No big runs were scored as such. So, why was I was dropped? I have not got an answer to this question till date. That had hurt me a lot.”
Contrary to Sehwag’s claim, the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman had scored two half-centuries each during that South Africa tour. Moreover, while Dravid couldn’t register a single fifty, wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik did score one. Former opener Wasim Jaffer, on the other hand, had completed a masterly century in the third Cape Town Test.
As for the Nawab of Najafgarh, who was India’s third-highest run-scorer during 2006 West Indies tour, had dropped to be their eighth-highest run-scorer in South Africa.
In the 12-month period preceding his exclusion from the squad, Sehwag had played 13 Tests scoring 835 runs at an average of 37.95 including two daddy hundreds in Pakistan and West Indies. Taking into consideration how these numbers aren’t poor enough to drop an aggressive batter, the selectors should’ve persisted with someone who was their vice-captain before South Africa tour (reason behind his demotion is another story altogether).
