Steve Waugh admits he didn't believe Virender Sehwag would survive in international cricket
Steve Waugh admits he didn't believe Virender Sehwag would survive in international cricket
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Steve Waugh has admitted that he was wrong about India dasher Virender Sehwag when Australia's legendary captain first saw him in 2001.
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| Virender Sehwag plays a shot during his first ODI against Australia at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore in 2001. Pic/Getty Images |
Waugh had his first ODI sighting of Sehwag when Australia and India clashed in the first game of the 2000-01 one-day series at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore where Sehwag scored 58 and followed it up with a three-wicket burst which caused Australia to collapse for 255 in response to India's 315. Sehwag's off-spin spelt doom for Matthew Hayden (lbw 99), Waugh (lbw 18) and Damien Martyn (caught wicketkeeper Vijay Dahiya for one).
Sehwag scored 58 off 54 balls with eight fours before he was clean bowled by swing bowler Damien Fleming. "He played some unbelievable shots in that innings and I thought bowlers would sort him out.
"I was wrong and he just got more and more destructive. If he gets going in early games (in this World Cup) he will feed off that momentum as well as the tremendous crowd support that he enjoys and revels in. Sehwag adds incredible power to the top order, and he is simply unstoppable once he gets a good start," wrote Waugh.
In 2003-04, Waugh saw from close quarters Sehwag thrilling the Boxing Day crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as he scored 195 in a day during the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Sehwag's incredible effort went in vain as India ended up losing that Test by nine wickets. Waugh retired after that series.
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