'Was playing to repay the faith he put in me' - Virender Sehwag recalls how Anil Kumble saved his Test career

Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag has given credit to Indian legendary spinner Anil Kumble for once reviving his career in the longest format of the game. To note, the right-handed batter was dropped from the national squad in early 2007 and remained out for almost a year.

However, during Kumble’s tenure as a skipper, Sehwag was recalled to the Test squad after staying out for about 11 months. The swashbuckling opener was included in India’s squad for the tour of Australia, where he played his first Test match in that year.

‘Score a fifty in this match and you will be selected for the match in Perth’ – Sehwag recalls Kumble’s words

“Score a 50 in this match, and you will be picked for the match in Perth,” Sehwag recalled Kumble’s words during Sports18’s show ‘Home of Heroes’

The veteran batter scored an excellent century before lunch in a practice match against ACT Invitation XI. As promised by the skipper, Sehwag played in Perth and gave a decent start to his team, scoring 29 and 43. He also took two wickets. However, the right-handed batter showed his class in the next match in Adelaide as he scored 63 in the first innings and followed it with a match-saving knock of 151 in the second innings to play a draw against Australia.

“Those 60 runs were the toughest I scored in my life. I was playing to repay the faith Anil Bhai put in me. I did not want anyone to question him for bringing me to Australia. I was focused on the striker’s end; on the other end, I spoke to the umpire, humming my favorite songs. The pressure was gone,” added Sehwag, who played seven Tests under the leadership of Kumble.

Talking about Sehwag’s numbers in Test cricket, the now 43-year-old played 104 matches and amassed a total of 8586 runs at an excellent average of almost 50. He also stroked 32 fifties, 23 hundreds and six double hundreds.