'Sachin Tendulkar stopped me at that time' - Sehwag narrates anecdote of 2007-08 CB series

Former India opener Virender Sehwag has enjoyed a career full of celebratory moments, including the famous 2011 World Cup triumph. However, there was a dull time when the dashing batter was considering retirement from ODI cricket.

The incident dates back to 2007-08, when a rut hit Sehwag's career. He made his Test comeback that year in the series versus Australia and even smashed a historic 151-run knock at the Adelaide Oval. But his ODI form still remained a concern as a patch of poor scores followed his way.

The 'Nawab of Najafgarh' had a tumultuous Commonwealth Bank series with the bat, registering a string of low scores (6, 33, 11 and 14) in India's first four games. Then, the then Indian skipper, MS Dhoni, dropped Sehwag from the playing XI. After that, he was slotted back to find some form, but unfortunately, he could score only 17 runs in the fixture against Australia.

Reflecting on the incident, Sehwag expressed how he wanted to play only Test cricket then, but Sachin Tendulkar managed to change his mind.

"In 2008, when we were in Australia, this question (of retirement) came to my mind. I made a comeback in the Test series and scored 150. In the ODIs, I couldn't score that much in three-four attempts. So MS Dhoni dropped me from the playing XI then the thought of quitting ODI cricket came to my mind. I thought I would continue playing only Test cricket," Sehwag said as quoted on Cricbuzz.

"Sachin Tendulkar stopped me at that time. He said, 'this is a bad phase of your life. Just wait, go back home after this tour, think hard and then decide what to do next'. Luckily I didn't announce my retirement at that time," he added.

Eventually, Sehwag agreed to Sachin's advice and ended his ODI career after featuring in 251 matches for the national side. He scored 8,273 runs at a staggering strike rate of 104.33.

Connecting his experience with Virat's ongoing dry run, the 43-year-old stated that the latter thrives on challenges and will soon return back to his majestic self.

"There are two types of players - Those who like challenges, they have fun in such situations, and Virat is one of those. He listens to all the criticism, reacts on the field by scoring runs to prove them wrong. The other type are the ones who are unaffected by all the noise because at the end of the day they know what they need to do. I was that kind of player. I didn't care who criticised me. I wanted to play, score runs and go home," Sehwag concluded.