New Delhi: Retiring legend Virender Sehwag on Thursday thanked his former India captains Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble and Sachin Tendulkar for their guidance during his illustrious international career, however, he did not mention the name of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, under whom he played for almost six years.
“I would like to thank all my captains, friends and coaches who have helped me to reach where I am. A big thanks to Ganguly, Dravid and Tendulkar for moulding me in my career,” he said.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) felicitated Sehwag before the start of the fourth and final cricket Test between India and South Africa at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium here on Thursday.
In his brief farewell speech, Sehwag thanked everyone from BCCI to DDCA to his first coach AN Sharma and Satish Sharma, who first picked him for Delhi U-19s.
“I want to thank my father for allowing me to play the game of cricket and give me freedom to do whatever I wanted to. All my coaches, especially AN Sharma for making me the cricketer I am,” the 37-year-old said.
The former opener said scoring a hundred on debut was his most special cricketing moment. He said he always prepared well for his matches and studied the bowlers in detail before launching those brutal assaults. However, Sehwag, who appeared almost without a care on the cricket field, admitted he did have one regret.
“I wanted to score 400 and break Brian Lara’s record. I was not out on 309 against South Africa but I got out for 319 the next day. That will remain a regret,” Sehwag said, adding that he would gift his sons a Ferrari if any of them broke his record 319 someday.
The two ends of the Feroz Shah Kotla were named 319 and 309 in honour of the 37-year-old’s Test triple tons.
Sehwag is the first Indian to score a triple ton in Test cricket. He is also one of four cricketers to have scored two triple centuries.
A part of the Indian team which won the 2011 World Cup, Sehwag has played 104 Tests and 251 One Day Internationals (ODIs). He scored 8,586 Test and 8,273 ODI runs in a career which began in 1999.
Sehwag retired from international cricket on October 20.
