Virender Sehwag was felicitated by BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur before the start of play in the fourth Test at Ferozshah Kotla on Thursday for his contribution to Indian cricket. Thakur presented him with a trophy, with his family right beside him at a venue where he had played most of his Ranji cricket before switching to Haryana earlier this season.
Sehwag had announced his retirement from international cricket on October 20th with no real chance of making a return to the Indian side. This season would also be his last in the Ranji Trophy.
lone Indian to score multiple 300 run stands (319 against South Africa in Chennai and 309 against Pakistan in Multan), a beaming Sehwag stated he rued missing out on a 400 run inning to beat Brian lara's record.
"May be I could have scored a 400 and broken Brian lara's record. I thought I had a chance of scoring 400. Unfortunately I got out after reaching 319 (against South Africa)," he said.
With a cumulative 17,253 runs in an illustrious career, his first ton remained the most cherished for the explosive batsman.
"My most memorable moment was scoring my first Test ton because when I started playing, everyone said that 'Sehwag is very good in limited overs cricket and his batting style suits ODIs' but I thought if I had scored heavily in the four-day Ranji Trophy matches, I should get to play in the Tests.
"So when I got an opportunity, I was very excited. That is why when I scored my first century in Test cricket, it became the most memorable moment," he added.
An aspect that made Sehwag unique in his approach was that he didn't alter his playing style even if playing in Test matches. "I used to prepare well before a match. I used to study the bowlers.
"I used to have a look at their in-swingers and out-swingers and prepare accordingly. So when I would come to the ground, I used to start hitting the bowlers straightaway.
"I never changed that in my game and continued to play like that all throughout my career," he claimed.
To top things off in a classy way, he revealed he would gift his old Ferrari to any of his sons who beat his record of 319.
"An old Ferrari is a motivation for my sons to break my record. If any of them can do it at any level, I will gift it," said a smiling Viru.
Stands at the Ferozshah Kotla wore appreciation of Sehwag with messages of "Thank You Viru", "Viru 319 End" and "Viru 309 End".
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Sehwag thanked all his captains including, Ajay Jadeja, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble and his once lethal opening partner Sachin Tendulkar but controversially saved the name of MS Dhoni from the list.
I want to thank my first captain Ajay Jadeja and other captains Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble. I want to thank Sachin Tendulkar."
He also thanked everyone at BCCI, DDCA, his former coaches for helping him in his career. "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. He also had words of gratitude for his close friends, including Delhi U-19 coach Raju Sharma.