Press Trust of India
New Delhi, Dec 3: Retiring legend Virender Sehwag thanked Thursday his former India captains Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble along with the iconic Sachin Tendulkar for their guidance during his illustrious international career. But strangely the name of MS Dhoni did not figure on his lips. He had played under Dhoni for six years.
The BCCI formally felicitated Sehwag before the start of the fourth Test match against South Africa with secretary Anurag Thakur presenting him with a glittering trophy for his achievements. Sehwag was accompanied by his mother Krishna Sehwag, wife Aarti and two sons Aryavir and Vedant during the short ceremony.
In his brief farewell speech, Sehwag thanked everyone from BCCI to DDCA, to his first coach AN Sharma and Satish Sharma, who first picked him for Delhi U-19s.
“I want to thank my father for allowing me to play the game of cricket and give me freedom to do whatever I wanted to. All my coaches, especially AN Sharma for making me the cricketer I am,” the 37 year old said.
When it came to the captains, Sehwag said: “I want to thank my first captain Ajay Jadeja and other skippers Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble. I want to thank Sachin Tendulkar who inspired me to play cricket.”