Virender Sehwag slams BCCI, says getting dropped mid-series hurt
Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Virender Sehwag has admitted that he was "hurt" by the way in which he was dropped from the Indian team in 2013. He had announced his retirement a couple of months ago, more than two years after the international snub. Sehwag revealed he came to know of his exclusion from the national side through the newspapers and the decision wasn't directly communicated to him by the selectors, team management or BCCI.
Sehwag said, "I hadn't scored runs in two Tests against Australia. So, I was thinking I would get a couple of more opportunities to perform well in the last two Tests of the series and then get dropped if I didn't perform. If the selectors would have given me that option to play two more Tests and then retire."
Getting dropped mid-series hurt: Sehwag
Sehwag was dropped from the Indian team after the second Test against Australia in Hyderabad in 2013 after failing to score a fifty in his last eight innings. After he was dropped he went back to the domestic circuit to make an impression but failed.
In 20 Ranji trophy matches for Delhi and Haryana since his last Test appearance, Sehwag scored 1269 runs at an average just under 40 and scored three centuries. He confessed that it took him some time to adapt to playing domestic cricket after having had a long international career.
He said, "When I got dropped, I was thinking that I'm a good player and can get back into the Indian team but I was still living in the mindset that I am an aggressive opener and can score runs but I did not realise that domestic cricket is totally different to international cricket and I was still playing in the same way. I did not score runs that 2013-14 season and my highest was 50-odd and I was struggling to cope up with conditions in Delhi.”
"I then changed my thinking next year and batting style by giving myself a little more time and I scored 500 plus runs, but I needed to score that in the previous season and maybe I would have gotten back into the team. It was too late but I was playing because I wanted to play the game."
The 37 year old is regarded by many as one of the greatest opening batsmen of the modern era, but he was very frank about his desire to play in the middle order towards the end of his career. Especially after the retirements of Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, he was never offered that role. However, he started his international career as a middle-order batsman.
Was not given middle order role because management didn’t want to take chances: Sehwag
Viru said, "I told the management about wanting to bat lower down but they felt that I was still good enough to play as an opener and they didn't want to take chances with the opening pair. I tried my best but could not get an opportunity in the middle order. When I played my last series, Tendulkar was still there, Kohli and Dhoni were there. Pujara was playing as the No. 3 batsman. Tendulkar was playing at 4, Kohli at 5 and it meant that I had to bat at No. 6 after Tendulkar as you could not ask him to bat at No. 3 or 5. So, there was no chance for me to bat in the middle order."
The Nawab of Najafgarh retired with an impressive Test record but his performances outside the subcontinent were inconsistent. Overall Sehwag averaged just 35.84 in 36 Tests and made just 5 of his 23 Test centuries outside Asia. Though some knocks like the 195 at MCG in 2003 are considered modern day classics, he admitted that this is an area where he struggled.
He added, "When you retire, you look back and see that my Test average outside Asia is 40 and it is 49 overall. If I can change something, I'd like to change that average outside Asia. I tried as hard as I could outside Asia but I couldn't do that. I gave my best but didn't score as much as I can. Dravid, Tendulkar, Sourav and Laxman did it and scored hundreds as well."