Sachin Tendulkar stopped me from retiring in 2007, says Virender Sehwag

Sehwag claimed that he wanted to retire in 2007 after being dropped from the Test team

In a shocking revelation, Virender Sehwag said that he could have retired from international cricket way back in 2007 when he was dropped from the Indian Test team but was prevented from doing so by Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, Times of India reports.

Sehwag, who is set to join Tendulkar in the Cricket All-Stars Series which is to be held in the USA in November, was not selected in the Indian Test squad for close to a year after he was dropped from the team in early 2007 following a string of poor performances. Sehwag revealed that he had contemplated retirement during that period, only for Tendulkar to persuade him not to.

"I was planning to retire in 2007 when dropped from the team but Tendulkar stopped me from doing so," Sehwag told Zee News.

Indian cricket fans, as well as Sehwag himself, would be delighted he didn’t take that call as he went on to claim the 2011 World Cup title, besides amassing a number of personal records before recently announcing his retirement from international cricket and the Indian Premier League.

Having recently felicitated Zaheer Khan, who like Sehwag, announced his international retirement earlier this month, during the post-match presentation ceremony at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai where the fifth ODI between India and South Africa was held, and is set to give a similar opportunity to Sehwag during the final Test between the two teams that will be held at the Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi, Sehwag’s hometown.

Sehwag, however, expressed his displeasure with the national selectors over not being given a fair chance to convey the decision while he was still part of the team’s plans. Sehwag was dropped in 2013 after the opening two Test matches of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia and never represented India again.

Sehwag felt that had the selectors told him about their plans beforehand, he could have announced his decision to retire that time itself.

“Every player wants to retire at the top of his international game. Had I also retired while playing international cricket, I could have given a retirement speech. But fate had something else in store for me," Sehwag said. "The selectors did not ask me about my future plan before dropping me during Australia series in 2013. Had the selectors told me about their decision, I could have announced my retirement in that series."

Sehwag reveals the best captain he played under and talks about his future plans

Despite playing under the likes of Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni, widely considered as India’s most successful captains, as well as Rahul Dravid, Sehwag named former Indian leg-spinner Anil Kumble as the best captain he had played under.

"Anil Kumble was the best captain I have played with. He used to boost our confidence level," he said.

Sehwag, who himself admitted that he rarely listened to others when taking decisions, responded in his usual style when asked how his children had taken the news of his retirement.

"My both sons were upset. But it doesn't matter to me," he said.

As for his future plans, Sehwag said that he would very much interested in doing TV commentary and even gave an insight as to what to expect.

"I will always be connected with this game. If I get an offer from the BCCI or any commentary offers, I will consider it. My commentary would be straight forward like my batting," Sehwag said.