Only hard work will bring you success: Viru

That Virender Sehwag was one of the most devastating batsmen of his time is a known fact but did you know that former Karnataka skipper and coach J Arunkumar had some influence on the former India skipper in developing as an opener?

Sehwag carved a niche for himself with his fearless approach, transferring himself from being a middle-order batsman into a marauding opener in all forms of the game. Now, the chief mentor of IPL side Kings XI Punjab, the Delhi batsman acknowledged the influence of Arun in improving his batting technique. 

“He was an opener and I liked the way he used to bat in local tournaments (in Delhi as part of Air India team),” said Sehwag at the launch of Arun’s Cricket Beyond Technique Academy here.

“It helped me become an opener when Sourav Ganguly (in South Africa) asked me to open for India. I always remembered that one guy who played with me -- J Arunkumar. The way he took advantage of the powerplay, scoring most of the runs in those five overs. I remember, he once said ‘if you’re batting in powerplay (in one-dayers), you should play more balls then only you will have the opportunity to score more runs.’ I applied it in international cricket and I didn’t give strike to Sachin Tendulkar. One thing I learned when I was in the Indian team that if you want to make your name then you have to play your game,” Sehwag remarked, addressing young aspirants at the academy.

The right-hander, though, feels he was lucky to have been picked for the national team ahead of Arun and his Delhi team-mate Mithun Manhas but maintained that hard work always had a role to play.

“If you work hard, only then will you get a chance to play for India. I was lucky because these two guys (Arun and Manhas) were more talented than me but they didn’t play for India. Maybe you will not play for India but if you love this game just keep playing it with a hope that you will play. If you’re (S) Badrinath then you can play at the age of 31 for India (he played at 28 actually in ODIs). Just imagine, he started playing cricket at the age of five and when he became 31 he got the chance to play for India. After 25 years... So you never know. If you stop dreaming then I don’t think you’ll ever get the chance to play for India in any sport.”

On being asked about his most memorable moment with Sachin, the Kings XI mentor said, “In 2013, during a session, I saw him practicing more than youngsters. He knew his time was over but he told me that if I don’t practice then I will not be able to score a hundred in the coming game. Practice made him perfect.”