“The coach will lose his respect”: When Sachin Tendulkar ensured John Wright doesn’t apologize to Virender Sehwag after slapping him

2002 NatWest Series remains one of the most closely-fought triangular series where the Indian team defeated England in the final to register a historic win. After the final, the then India captain Sourav Ganguly’s shirt wave at the Lord’s balcony is still fresh in every Indian cricket fan’s mind. However, an ugly incident had happened during the series.

Former India batter Virender Sehwag was one of India’s most important players in the series as he had the job of giving India a good start. In one of the ODIs, Sehwag got out and the then head coach John Wright was so furious about Sehwag’s mode of dismissal that he ended up slapping him in the dressing room.

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Sehwag informed the same to Ganguly and the Indian captain was also against the same. Ganguly made it an issue, and he insisted that the whole team won’t leave the dressing room until Wright apologizes to Sehwag in front of everyone. However, it was Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar who then handled the situation well.

When Sachin Tendulkar ensured John Wright doesn’t apologize to Virender Sehwag

Senior cricket administrator Rajiv Shukla was the manager of the Indian team back then, and he recalled how Tendulkar handled the ugly situation to save Wright from embarrassment. He revealed that he talked to Wright about the same, and the latter said to him that he did it because Sehwag was repeating the same mistake time and again.

Shukla further recalled how Tendulkar came to him and asked to make sure that Wright does not apologize as he will lose his respect in front of the team. Shukla then talked to Sehwag, and he understood the situation. Shukla, current Vice President of the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India), had a lot of praise for Tendulkar for showing maturity in what could have turned into a tense situation.

“I found [John] Wright and asked him if he did it. John said that he wanted [Virender] Sehwag to score a century but Sehwag repeated his mistake of lifting the ball and got out, so I was angry. And he is like a disciple to me, so I just pushed him out of anger,” Shukla had said as quoted by The Hindu.

“Sachin [Tendulkar] came to me and said ‘You must ensure that John does not apologize, otherwise the coach will lose his respect’. I got back to Sehwag and explained that it was just like a father chides his son, John did it. He understood and let it go.”

In the same session, Shukla also revealed how Tendulkar managed to convince all the other players to not wave their shirts after winning the Natwest Trophy 2002 final.