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Virender Sehwag was way ahead of time when it comes to the batting approach. He had only one style of play and that was aggressive. Sehwag never allowed a bowler to dominate him. And this attitude of him reaped rewards as the batter served India for more than 350 international games. The swashbuckling batter scored over 17,000 international runs. But there was a phase when Sehwag felt let down and also considered retiring.
The Najafgarh-born cricketer revealed an incident from India’s tour of Australia in 2008 when he almost announced his retirement from ODIs after captain MS Dhoni dropped him from the playing XI. While talking about how to handle criticism on Cricbuzz’s ‘Match Party’ Sehwag narrated the whole incident.
"There are two types of players. One type of player enjoys accepting challenges. Like Virat Kohli. He listens to criticism, and then makes comeback. Then there are the second type of players who does not react to criticism because they know what they can achieve. I was that kind of a player. I did not care about who criticised me and who did not.
In 2008, when we were in Australia, this question (of retirement) came to my mind. I made a comeback in the Test series, scored a 150. In the ODIs, I couldn't score that much in three-four attempts. So, MS Dhoni dropped me from the playing XI. Then the thought of quitting ODI cricket came to my mind. I thought I will continue playing only Test cricket," said Sehwag.
Sachin Tendulkar stopped me: Sehwag
The former India opener then revealed how Sachin Tendulkar convinced him to change his mind. "Sachin Tendulkar stopped me at that time. He said 'this is a bad phase of your life. Just wait, go back home after this tour, think hard and then decide what to do next'. Luckily, I didn't announce my retirement at that time. I would have announced my retirement on the Australia tour, return to India and played only Test cricket,” revealed Sehwag.
The former cricketer then revealed that things changes after he returned to India and had clear words with K Srikanth and MS Dhoni.
"Time changed. We returned to India. K Srikanth was the chairman (of selectors). He asked me about 'what to do?' I said I was dropped for three-four matches despite being in good form. So, what do I do? I told him 'if you give me assurance that you will pick me in all the matches, then you pick me otherwise don't'. Then Srikanth talked to MS Dhoni during the 2008 Asia Cup. Then Dhoni asked me about my preferred batting position and told me I would play in all matches. After that I played good cricket," Sehwag signed off.