Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will play a huge role for India in the WorldT20: Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag, in a recent live chat with his fans over Facebook, talked about the Indian Cricket Team, their chances in the upcoming World T20 and also shared a few things about his personal future plans.

Sehwag was speaking live with his fans on Cricbuzz’s Facebook page. He started by giving his suggestions about the current Indian squad, saying that he was totally happy with the team which MS Dhoni has picked and he would have chosen the same team if he had been the captain. However, he feels that he would have opted for Mohammad Shami if the fast bowler is fully is fit instead of seam bowling all-rounder Hardik Pandya as India already has great batting depth. According to him, if the bowling attack comes good then we have a chance to win the World T20.

Viru has vast international experience and his knowledge can prove to be very handy for the current Indian team. When asked by a fan whether he would prefer taking up the coaching role for India, he said, “You never know. If I get the opportunity, maybe I’ll take it or maybe not. That is an option for me I have to decide that later on not now.”

Brian Lara’s 400 is the ultimate landmark for any batsman in the Virender Sehwag was the only batsman to have ever come close to achieving this record. But, he feels that out of the current lot of the batsmen in Indian team, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have the opportunity and capability to breach past that record.

“It is very difficult to say. Even I tried hard but if I think Rohit Sharma, who has already scored two ODI double hundred can break the record if he plays for eight hours and gets set during a Test match. The second player I think who can achieve this feat is Virat Kohli. However, both players must first try to get past the 319 run mark score by Virender Sehwag”

Sehwag also says that both these individuals will be a key factor for India in the upcoming World T20. “Rohit is the opener while Kohli comes in as the No.3. If they play for a considerable amount of time in the middle then Indian will score good total all the time. I think both will have a huge role to play in the Indian cricket team.”

Sehwag also analyzed whether which team out of New Zealand and Australia can prove to be more dangerous in the group stage for India.

“I think both. New Zealand team is difficult. Indian has a poor record against the New Zealand team having lost 4 games in the past to them. The Indian will have a different mindset when they’ll go to play against New Zealand. They would be determined to win the game considering the previous failure. India played against Australia in Australia and beat them in the T20 series so I think New Zealand will the toughest side to beat for India.”

He also commented about Irfan Pathan’s comeback in the Indian team for limited overs game. He thinks it would be very difficult for him to make a comeback at this stage as Hardik Pandya seems to have taken his place in the team.

“I think it is difficult for Irfan to come back. According to me Pandya is the right choice. He is the future.”

“Irfan has to work really hard if he wants to come back. HE has to bowl well and play full domestic season which he hasn’t done in the last couple of year and play well then only he can come back into the team”

However, he also asked the young Hardik Pandya on concentrating more on his bowling and should learn how to bowl on flat tracks. He feels that Pandya learn many things from the experienced Ashish Nehra.

“He has to concentrate on his bowling he must learn to bowl on flat tracks. I am happy that Ashish Nehra is back in the team and he can teach him good things about bowling.”

Virender also delivered a good news for his fans when said that he is planning to play in various other T20 leagues other than the Master Champions League. He says that his talent as a cricketer has not faded but his body cannot take the pain of international cricket anymore.

“Talent is there, Talent will never go away. But, after some time the body doesn’t allow to field for 20 overs or 50 overs and five-day Test match that’s why I retired But, in T20s, I am going to play in other leagues as well. You will get the news soon.”

Sehwag also spoke about how teams like South Africa can prevent choking. He feels that they should not take the pressure on themselves and must focus on the basics and avoid committing mistakes during crunch games.

“It’s not about the big stage, it’s about the basics, it’s about the game. If South Africa is playing in the quarter-finals or the semi-finals, they should not be worried about it. They should be concerned about the basics of the game. They should focus or concentrate on cricket on their batting and bowling. I have seen that they drop a lot of catches during such games. It becomes difficult to win the game if bowler’s bowl bad length and the fielders start dropping such chances despite being an extraordinary fielding side.”

He also let out his opinion on how threatening Pakistan can be in the World T20.

Pakistan is a side that can play good cricket on any day. But, they tend to depend on their batting a lot. Everybody knows that they have a very good bowling line-up as they already have a very good bowling line–up and can defend any target, So, If the batsmen work hard then I think they will be more dangerous.”

Viru also states that as of now Ravichandran Ashwin is the best spinner in the world whereas the South African duo of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel  are the best fast bowlers in the world.