JOIN USOne of India’s greatest cricketers, Virender Sehwag said on Monday he will draw curtains on his international career soon as he confirmed his participation in next year’s Masters Champions League 2020, where only retired cricketers can play.
Sehwag’s statement comes only a few days after one of his contemporaries Zaheer Khan decided to call time on his career. His comment created a flutter on social media, with tributes pouring in, before the star batsman clarified that he was yet to make it official.
A day before his 37th birthday, Sehwag was unveiled at the launch ceremony of the veterans 2020 league in Dubai. Sehwag, who was present alongside Brian Lara, Graeme Smith and Azhar Mahmood at the launch, was asked how he could play as MCL is a retired cricketers’ league. He said, “If I am not retired I will not play. I will go back to India and announce my retirement.”
MCL is supposed to be played in February next year, which means that Sehwag will complete his Ranji Trophy commitments with Haryana before joining the veterans’ league.
In a glorious international career spanning over 12 years, Sehwag played 104 Tests scoring 8586 runs at an impressive average of 49.34, hitting 23 centuries and 32 half-centuries.
He is the only triple centurion in Tests for India having scored a career-best knock of 319 against Pakistan at Multan, which also is an Indian record. He is also one of the four batsmen to have scored two triple tons with his next one (309) coming against South Africa. The others to hit two triple tons in Test cricket are Don Bradman, Brian Lara and Chris Gayle.
In 251 ODIs, he accumulated 8273 runs at an average of 35.05 and scored 15 hundreds apart from hitting 38 fifties. In 19 Twenty20 Internationals, he managed 394 runs with two half-centuries.
He has been a part of two World Cup winning teams under Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s leadership —- 2007 World T20 in South Africa and the 2011 Cricket World Cup in India.
Sehwag will be seen in action in the Karnataka-Haryana Ranji Trophy game, starting in Mysuru on Thursday.