No one will remember Rishabh Pant if he only plays white-ball cricket: Virender Sehwag
Former India opener Virender Sehwag feels that if Rishabh Pant only played white-ball cricket, no one would remember him as much.
“If he goes on to play 100+ Tests, his name would be etched in the hory books forever. Only 11 Indian cricketers have achieved this feat, and everyone can recall those 11 names,” said Sehwag in an episode of Home of Heroes on Sports18.
While shorter formats have been lucrative and offer instant gratification, Sehwag feels 99% of the players in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) would want to play Test cricket.
“Why does Virat Kohli emphasise so much on playing Tests? He knows that if he plays 100-150 or even 200 Tests, he will be immortalised in the record books,” Sehwag said.Best of Express PremiumPremiumPremiumPremiumPremium
Virender Sehwag’s reverence for Test cricket is not surprising, for his exploits in the format are next to none. In an international career spanning over a decade, Sehwag compiled 8586 runs in Tests averaging 49.34 at an astonishing strike rate of 82.23 and 8273 in ODIs at 35.05 with a strike rate of 104.33.
“In my humble opinion, Test cricket is the ultimate cricket,” says the former India batter.
On his penchant for hitting boundaries on the first ball, Sehwag said: ““Many, including Tendulkar, told me that I planned to hit the first ball to the fence. But I never did.”
“I would be prepared to hit the first ball thinking it would more often be a loosener or a warm-up delivery,” added Sehwag, who is second in the l of batsmen with most fours in an innings in both Tests and ODIs.
