Virender Sehwag recently stated how Anil Kumble, his former captain, assisted him in making a comeback to the national side despite his bad form. The swashbuckling batsman For India’s tour of Australia in 2007-08 in a video posted on his Facebook page. Despite his lackluster first-class results, Sehwag was selected. He said that Anil Kumble was the one who put his name forward for the important series.
Aakash Chopra and Gautam Gambhir, according to Virender Sehwag, should have been picked ahead of him. It was only inevitable, given their outstanding domestic accomplishments. Kumble, on the other hand, had different ideas. He said the experienced spinner was looking for a guy. Who could play aggressive cricket at the top level against Australia’s power in their own backyard.
Aakash Chopra
“When I was traveling with him (Anil Kumble) in the team going to Australia, I asked why did you pick me? You had other options .He replied that Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik, Aakash Chopra and Rahul Dravid are all players of one category. They will play 200 balls and score a century. But I need such an opener who can go to Australia and answer them, play like them.” Here’s what he said
When Sehwag received a call from Kumble about his selection, he said he was struggling to make runs, even in first-class cricket. He mentioned that he had only managed to score 36 runs in about six domestic games that season.
The 43-year-old revealed that he was unable to make the starting eleven for the series’ opening two Test matches. He had persuaded the captain to include him, however, because he believed his bad luck was over.
“Anil bhai told me just one thing, since you have waited so long, have a little more patience. I got a chance to play after 2 matches, I played in Perth and got off to a good start. Didn’t score much, only 20-30 runs in both innings and took 2 wickets and we won that match. But the beginning was good,” he added.
Kumble’s decision to go with the aggressive batter paid off in the following match as well. Sehwag smashed an outstanding half-century in the first innings and then a match-saving century in the second innings to enable India salvage a famous draw in Adelaide.
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