Virender Sehwag recalls levelling up his footwork with the help of former greats

Former cricketer Virender Sehwag is regarded as one of the most destructive openers in the cricketing world. His classic technique and super hand-eye coordination allowed him to rule the game like a King. During his prime days, even the best of the bowlers remained in terror of his sight. ‘See ball-hit ball’ was an easy phrase associated with Sehwag to explain his style of play.

He made a smooth transition from age-group cricket to the international arena owing to his sheer talent. However, very often, Sehwag used to get critical remarks on his limited footwork. In his recent chat, the prolific batsman opened up on how he improved his footwork and how some big names helped him in the process.

“There were many experts and cricketers in my early years of international cricket who used to point out my lack of foot movement, but none had any plausible suggestions to rectify it,” stated Sehwag during the launch of an experimental learning app called Cricuru that aimed to redefine cricket coaching in India, as quoted by the Indian Express.

After spending a good amount of time tackling the error in his footwork, the 42-year-old added that three former cricketers helped him to get over it. Sehwag added that discussions with Tiger Pataudi, Sunil Gavaskar, and Kris Srikanth helped him to fight out the phase and improve the game a lot after that point in time.

The advice helped me come closer to the ball and it improved my game: Virender Sehwag

“They told me that rather than thinking about my footwork, I should start batting on middle or off-stump instead of taking my stance on leg stump. That helped me come closer to the ball. It improved my game, and credit goes to them,” Sehwag recollected.

The former great concluded by adding that it was due to this great advice that he went on to level up his game and could bag over 8000 Test runs in 104 matches. He ended his ODI career after playing 251 games and collecting 8273 runs at an average of 35.05.