Long before the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup, legendary Indian opener Virender Sehwag made the startling admission that he had seriously contemplated quitting ODI cricket. Long-term exile from the playing XI under then-captain MS Dhoni was the cause of the early retirement. Sehwag did, however, note that his career was altered by counsel from Sachin Tendulkar, his batting partner and close friend.
The episode is set in Australia during the 2007–08 Commonwealth Bank Series, which was a tri-nation competition between Australia, Sri Lanka, and India. Virender Sehwag participated in the first five games of the series but struggled with form, collecting only 81 runs at an average of 16.20 and scoring 33 at his top.
Dhoni benched him for the last three league games because of his lean patch. Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar led the batting charts as India won the tri-series.
Virender Sehwag position in the squad and future in the format were questioned after the historic victory.
“I played the first three (five) games of the 2007–08 series in Australia before MS Dhoni benched me. After that, I wasn’t chosen for some time. I then thought there was no purpose in playing ODI cricket if I couldn’t make the starting XI. “I am considering retiring from ODIs,” I then told Tendulkar. “No, I had a similar period in 1999-2000 where I felt I should quit cricket,” he remarked. However, that stage passed.
You are going through a difficult time, but it will end. Avoid making decisions when you’re feeling upset. Take a call after giving yourself some time and watching one or two episodes. I participated in the following series after that one concluded and scored a lot of runs. On Padamjeet Sehrawat’s YouTube channel, Virender Sehwag stated, “I participated in the 2011 World Cup, and we also won the World Cup.”
Virender Sehwag returned to his best after hearing this advise, making 150 runs in three games in the Kitply Cup later that year. He then went on a run of form that saw him open for India in the 2011 World Cup, which the Men in Blue won. With a stellar ODI record, Sehwag finally retired in 2015. He amassed 8,273 runs in 251 games, including 15 hundreds and the greatest individual score in ODI history (219).
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