'I think, I got it too late': Virender Sehwag on his induction in ICC’s ‘Hall of Fame’

Known for his straight-faced humour, former India opener Virender Sehwag on Tuesday said that his induction into the ICC’s ‘Hall of Fame’ has happened “too late”. Sehwag along with former Indian women’s team skipper Diana Edulji and Sri Lankan legend Aravinda de Silva were made members of ICC Hall of Fame for their stellar achievements during their playing career. “I think, I am too late,” quipped Sehwag when former West Indies bowler Ian Bishop asked him about his thoughts on being part of the ICC Hall Of Fame. One of the most destructive batters of the modern era, Sehwag donned India colours between 1999 and 2013. He scored a total of 23 Test centuries during his illustrious career – the fifth most by an India men’s player. His highest score of 319 against South Africa in Chennai in 2008 the best of any Indian player ever. During his conversation with Bishop, Sehwag touched upon a number of milestones of his career, including his first ODI match, his first Test match, his promotion from middle-order to opening the innings in both ODIs and Test cricket. Sehwag, who accumulated 8,586 runs from 104 Tests at an average of 49.34 and also took 40 wickets during his Test career which spanned from 2001-2013, revealed the role of Zaheer Khan in his promotion as an opener. “Everybody thinks it was Sourav Ganguly that thought of making him open the innings but it was Zaheer (Khan), who came up with that suggestion first. He told Ganguly to make me open the innings,” said Sehwag. The 45-year-old totalled 8,273 runs for India in 50-over cricket at an average of 35.05 and his 219 against the West Indies in Indore in 2011 remains the third-highest score achieved by a male cricketer in ODI. Sehwag said he always believed in the philosophy of “see the ball, hit the ball”. “I was not somebody who believes in watch the ball, play the ball. There were players like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, all legends who were doing that. So, I had to be different from them and that is also the reason why I never thought of changing my style of play.” Talking about being dropped from the side around 2007, Sehwag said: “Here was a guy who has scored a triple hundred, was sitting at home and watching it on TV players scoring 30-40 runs in the match. I missed 10-11 matches. I have to thank Anil Kumble for bringing me back into the team.”