Virender Sehwag has always been one of the driving forces for the Indian cricket team and ever since his days with Sourav Ganguly to being a part of the Indian side under MS Dhoni, he has always wanted the best for the Men in Blue. Considering his urge for the Indian cricket team to do better, he has not pulled back and has always managed to call the shots firmly even when it was about his skipper.
In a clip shared on the TRS podcast, Akash Chopra talked about Sehwag, as he stated, “How many batters have had the courage to sing songs and whistle while facing the fastest bowlers around the world? Not many, right? Sehwag made it a habit. In fact, at one stage in his career, Sehwag he was so brash that former India coach John Wright couldn’t help by grab Viru by the scruff of his neck to put forward his point. But unlike today, things never spiralled out of control as whatever Sehwag did, it stemmed from the goodness of his heart.”
Chopra further added, “Viru used to tell me ‘See bro, if you don’t score runs, you’ll get dropped and the same goes for me. He even used to tell Ganguly ‘Dada, rest all is fine. But please see. You are the captain. Score runs or you’ll get dropped’. He was brilliant, and nobody took him badly because Viru was so honest. It was so endearing. People would tell him not to be so straightforward all the time. But he kept saying ‘This is who I am. Take it or leave it’. He’s always had a heart of gold and never shied away from speaking his mind.” Former opening partner of Viru, concluded by saying, “He was also open if he didn’t like anyone. Once when John Wright didn’t speak to him nicely, he said ‘John, I will write a complaint against you that you’re treating me different than Sachin. Because Sachin is a great player? I will write to the BCCI president. He was honest, fun. And also a champion. The manner in which he played his cricket was ahead of his time and played it with panache.”
