The Hindu : Sport : Sehwag calls for fewer matches

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 07, 2006

Sport

Sport

Sehwag calls for fewer matches

— File Photo: V. Ganesan

GIVE US A BREAK: Sehwag feels that adequate rest and top fitness are a must for India to succeed at the World Cup.

New Delhi: Fearing burnout from too much cricket, India's top cricketers have told the Board of Control for Cricket in India to reduce the number of matches, vice-captain Virender Sehwag disclosed here on Saturday.

``There is too much cricket... Players need a break because they (may) burnout from cricket. They need time for fitness also, time to think about their game and to recharge their batteries... If we want to win the World Cup, we need every player to be fit,'' Sehwag said.

BCCI expresses inability

Skipper Rahul Dravid and other senior players, including him, had taken up the matter with the BCCI which had pleaded inability to do anything about it immediately since the current cricket calendar had been fixed long ago, he said.

Sehwag sees his recent poor form as something that happens to international cricketers.

A slump suddenly ``comes into your life'' and in some ways ``I was ready for that,'' he said, adding, ``I was just praying to myself that this patch will go quickly but that did not happen.''

Which bowler does he fear the most? ``When I am not in form, I fear every bowler,'' he laughs, suggesting that fear does not cross his mind when at the wicket.

``I have faced Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Andrew Flintoff, Brett Lee, Shoaib Akhtar, Shaun Pollock, Steve Harmison and Muttiah Muralitharan. In good form, I have scored runs against all of them.''

Happiest moment

His happiest cricketing moment was when he scored a triple Test century against Pakistan in Multan two years ago.

And the saddest moment was when India lost to Pakistan in the Bangalore Test last year chasing over 300 and losing only one wicket in the first session. Sehwag is an unabashed admirer of Tendulkar. ``He is my role model, my inspiration. He is still the greatest. I learnt my cricket from Tendulkar.''

Of crowd expectations from the two of them, Sehwag says that these are entirely different. ``They want to see Tendulkar get 100 and Sehwag score quick runs.''

The vice-captain firmly rejects suggestions that Tendulkar is in the autumn of his career. ``He is still young at 33. Lara is 37. Tendulkar is a very fit man. He has got a lot of cricket left in him,'' he said.

Sehwag sums up his cricketing philosophy thus: ``whenever I play cricket I want to be just happy and make others happy.'' — PTI

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