After being in perfect form in the recent India-Sri Lanka test cricket series, there is so much to say, hear and expect from one of India’s finest opening batsman who truly exceeded everyone's expectations. He is iSport’s 'Athlete of the Month'! Nupur Gadkari brings to you an exclusive interview with the man himself, Virender Sehwag aka Viru!
Heard the name Viru, Sehwag, Vijender, the next Sachin, in the last few weeks? This name was splashed across media be it television, internet, print or radio! Virender Sehwag truly proved his worth after a lull in his career as a batsman. He seemed in perfect form and made just the perfect and much awaited comeback, one that every Indian will surely remember for a long time. His unbeatable innings in the recent test series against Sri Lanka brought laurels not only to him as a batsman but also to the entire team! On asking Viru what he felt about his performance he says, “It was one of my best performances in the series and I hope to keep up the good work".
Sure Sehwagji, we all wish for exactly that and nothing less! And I’m sure it takes a lot of effort and consistency in living and eating habits to ensure that as a sportsman you are always maintaining the right balance between nutrition and regime. Sehwag’s training regime includes, “a work out for 2 hours everyday that is often complemented by the training sessions happen at the nets itself”.
However, like every other player, even Sehwag has had his share of lows in his cricketing career. But this doesn’t stop him as he truly believes that those falls in his graph have definitely helped him grow as a player. When we asked him how he said, “I was always positive even in the lean phase of my life. The beliefs within me made it happen.” That’s some positive thinking and some great believing in yourself. Truly inspiring! Are we all taking notes??
In my opinion Viru is not only a great sportman but also a great teamplayer! On asking him about his fellow players he has nothing but praises for them. He believes a lot in Rahul Dravid and went on to say, “one needs a player like Dravid who can actually build the innings for the team”. So true, Dravid has been one of India’s finest batsman who is known for his calm and composed approach while he stands strong trying to face the toughest of yorkers! Speaking of which, the most difficult bowler according to Sehwag that he has ever faced is Glenn Mcgrath and the best Indian bowler he has played with is Anil Kumble! Kumble is truly an unbelievable leg spinner and the best that the team has. His famous test cricket score of taking all 10 wickets is still a very cherished memory for most cricket lovers!
Viru believes that there should be a lot more test cricket played in a year. He says, “Playing only four in a year isn’t enough. There should be at least 8 to 10 in a year”. Apart from his ODI and test career, Sehwag is also famous for his association with the Delhi Daredevils. On asking him his thoughts on captaincy, he feels that youngsters should get the chance for Captaincy. “That’s why I supported Gautam” he says without a doubt in that statement. Delhi Daredevils were rated the strongest team in first as well as the second season of IPL, but still did not manage to qualify for the finals. Was there something that the team lacked? Sehwag thinks otherwise. He says “The team is perfectly balanced. All we need is to click at the right time and that too with consistency”. Well we can only evaluate that in IPL season three and we honestly hope that such a strong team makes it to the finals!
With great anticipation we asked Viru, tell us who in your opinion is the one player who plays like you in world cricket, and the answer was out in a split second, “Gautam Gambhir”. Gautam we hope you are listening, there are a lot of expectations from you in IPL season 3 and ofcourse lots of other series that follow.
Sehwag is without doubt one of the very sought after batsmans in cricket. It wouldn’t be wrong to call him the ‘key ingredient’ in the team! Here is his message to all the readers of iSport - “Keep up the good work and keep watching cricket”. Surely, we’d all love to watch a lot more of him making those hundreds, maintaining awesome strike rates and break records of the best averages! Make us proud yet again, because we’re all looking forward to some great action! All the best!
Read the full transcript of the interview here.
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Kunal Shah
said:
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... He's one of those players that prove the text books on cricket WRONG! Skill and talent is all that works! However, players like Viru often take longer to get out of their non-performing patches, due to the same reason. But a good choice for the Athlete of the Month - some truly sizzling performanes in all forms of cricket -off late! |
Suraj Kori
said:
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... Good job Nupur. He surely lacks in technique and has very bad footwork but he is definitely the most entertaining cricketer in the world. |
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