Despite Virender Sehwag Recommending Aakash Chopra And Gautam Gambhir’s Names, Anil Kumble Selected Him For 2008 Australia Tour

In spite of being out of the Indian Test squad, one surely has to be super secure and possess a lion-heart as big as his/her self-belief in order to selflessly recommend names of two fellow state players when the national captain calls you to hint at a possible recall. Former India batter Virender Sehwag fits into each of the above mentioned criterion, which was on an intangible display when the then Test captain Anil Kumble called him before India’s tour of Australia 2007-08.

Speaking to cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar for Sports18 last year, Sehwag had revealed that he had suggested Kumble to pick in-form openers such as Aakash Chopra or Gautam Gambhir (instead of him) during the phone call, as he was not in form.

“I remember when I was out of the team and the probables for the 2007 Australia tour had been announced, Anil Kumble had called me to reveal that he had been talking to the selectors pertaining Virender Sehwag’s inclusion in the squad. I told him that I haven’t been scoring at all and it would be better if you pick one of Aakash Chopra or Gautam Gambhir,” Sehwag told Sports18.

“Then he was like, ‘No, no. I have four more players like an Aakash or a Gautam – the likes of [Rahul] Dravid, [VVS] Laxman, [Sachin] Tendulkar, who all could play like them. Who I don’t have is a Virender Sehwag, who could play aggressive cricket and match the Aussies.'”

It is worth mentioning that Chopra and Gambhir were the second and third-highest run-scorers during Ranji Trophy 2007/08 respectively. While the former had scored 783 runs at an average of 52.20, the latter had amassed 730 runs at a scintillating average of 91.25.

However, both these Delhi batters couldn’t make it to the 16-member squad for the tour down under. While Chopra wasn’t handed a Test comeback after three years, Gambhir was ruled out due to an injury which he had suffered after twin failures in Bangalore Test against Pakistan, which had ended the day the squad was announced.

Virender Sehwag Had To Warm The Bench For Two Tests

Virender Sehwag was left unimpressed and even hinted at a possible bias on part of the selectors when he was dropped from the Test team after India’s tour of South Africa 2006/07. As a result, he didn’t play another Test that year. In this period, he did play three Ranji Trophy 2007/08 matches for Delhi but registered pedestrian returns scoring 66 runs at an average of 13.20.

Despite the numbers, he did earn a recall, but had to warm the benches in the first two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney respectively. Interestingly, before he finally secured his berth in the Playing XI in the third Perth Test, Sehwag had to fulfill a certain condition put forward before him by Kumble, which was revealed by him in the above mentioned interaction with Manjrekar.

During the bus journey to Canberra, the venue for tour match before the third Test, the Nawab of Najafgarh was asked to score at least a half-century to prove his credentials for a spot in the Playing XI. As it turned out, a first-innings failure for him was followed by a knock of 113 (78) in the second and an assurance of a Test comeback after more than 12 months.

Although Sehwag (29 & 43) couldn’t breach the half-century mark during the two opportunities in Perth, his 57-run opening stand alongside Wasim Jaffer in the first innings, and another one worth 45 runs had played a crucial role in the team securing a 72-run victory. The win was historic in the sense that India had not only broken Australia’s winning trail of 16 consecutive Test wins, but had also become the first sub-continent nation to hand them a defeat at the iconic W.A.C.A.

Come next, the fourth and final Test at the Adelaide Oval, Sehwag scored the most difficult 60 of his career in the first innings, and followed it up with a daddy hundred (151) of the highest order, signifying in a way that he was back at doing what he does best. In his very next Test innings a couple of months later, Sehwag had went on to smash a jaw-dropping triple century against South Africa and deservedly featured in the Playing XI of all the remaining Tests India played in 2008.

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• Aakash Chopra
• Anil Kumble
• Gautam Gambhir
• Virender Sehwag