Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag has revealed that he was set to retire from ODIs in 2008 after being dropped from the playing XI. However, Sachin Tendulkar spoke to him and changed his mind, and eventually, he played the World Cup in 2011 and lifted the trophy. Notably, Sehwag started the mega event with a swashbuckling 175 against Bangladesh as well.
It was a turbulent phase in his career when Sehwag was not scoring runs consistently during the tri-series between India, Australia, and Sri Lanka in the 2007-08 season. Sehwag recently appeared in Padamjeet Sehrawat's podcast and revealed that he was frustrated after losing his place from the side during the tri-series down under.
"In the 2007-08 series against Australia, I played the first three matches and then MS Dhoni dropped me from the side. I wasn't picked for a while after that. Then I felt that if I can't be a part of the playing XI, then there is no point in playing ODI cricket," Sehwag said.
Sehwag communicated to Tendulkar about his retirement decision
Virender Sehwag also recalled the moment when he went to Tendulkar to talk about his retirement decision and how the latter asked him not to make such decisions emotionally. "I went to Tendulkar and said, ‘I am thinking of retiring from ODIs'. He said, ‘No. I went through a similar phase in 1999-2000, where I felt I should leave cricket. But that phase came and went. You are going through a trough, but it will pass. Don't make any decision when you are emotional. Give yourself some time and 1-2 series, and then take a call," the former India cricketer recalled.
The advice from Sachin worked wonders for Sehwag as he ended up playing the World Cup and lifted the trophy eventually.
