Virender Sehwag Opens Up on The Most Depressing Phase of His Life


image-lifx2wk0India had a horror run in 2007 WC (Twitter)

The Indian Cricket underwent a transition in the 2000s, which curved the team to become unbeatable, resulting in them lifting them two World Cups in a span of four years. Even though, the Men in Blue played the 2003 World Cup final, they were annihilated in the subsequent edition, thanks to the horror show put on by the then head coach Greg Chappell. 

Led by Rahul Dravid, the Indian boys were the favourites for the ICC World Cup 2007 as they had a formidable squad comprised of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly, Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and what not. Still, they were thrashed out of the tournament by the hands of Sri Lanka and minnows Bangladesh. 


Sehwag hasn't recovered from 2007 heartbreak

Sehwag, famous for giving blasting starts as an opener, was forced to play a non-opener for most of that infamous ICC event. While talking about the WC 2007 on Breakfast with Champions, the veteran opener stated that the tournament was heartbreaking, and even after winning the trophy in 2011, the wounds from the past have not been filled.

"(World Cup) 2007 hurt more. Our team in 2007 was the best team in the world at the time. On paper, you won't find a better team than that, even before or after. In 2003, we lost the final, in 2011, we won, but we didn't have such big names ever. We lost 2 matches, won 1 and that too against Bermuda," Sehwag mentioned.

The former Indian batter also cited that he didn't even leave his hotel room after India got ruled out of the World Cup in West Indies.

"Everyone thought we would reach the next round. We had a 2-day break after the league stage. We lost, we didn't have tickets. We had to stay two days extra at Trinidad and Tobago without any practice. In those two days, I didn't ask for room service or housekeeping, I didn't even step out of the room," he further said.

The 2007's 50-over World Cup may have ended on a low for the Men in Blue and the star opener, but months later, he played a vital cog in India winning the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup. 


Sehwag about his love for Sachin

In the interview, the cricketer-turned-commentator spoke about his admiration for Sachin Tendulkar, who was the reason why Sehwag took on cricket for the first time. He remembered the 1992 ICC event, where he first saw the Master Blaster bat live on television.

"I had no idea I'd play cricket when I started watching him. I started watching cricket during the 1992 World Cup. When I learnt that it (WC) is going to be held in Australia, we'd go to the neighbour's house to watch the matches because we didn't have cable at that time," Sehwag concluded.