Sachin stopped me from retiring in 2007: Virender Sehwag

During his playing days, Virender Sehwag traumatised bowlers all over the world with his ability to hit boundaries. He says he wanted wanted to retire in the same 'straight forward' manner — the way he played his cricket. The former Indian opening batsman, however, announced his retirement through social media – twitter — on October 20, his birthday.

"Every player wants to retire at the top of the international games. Had I also retired while playing international cricket, I could have given a retirement speech. But fate had something else in store for me," Sehwag told Zee News in his first exclusive interview after his retirement from international cricket.

Arguably on of the most destructive batsmen, Sehwag said was upset that the selectors did not give him enough rope in 2013 and decided to drop him after a few failures. "The selectors did not ask me about my future plan before dropping me during Australia series in 2013. Had the selectors told me about their decision, I could have announced my retirement in that series," said one of the most destructive batsmen who was sidelined for the last two years.

Sehwag was a member of the exclusive club of the Indian batting famously referred to as the Fab-5 along with Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman.

However, he also recounted that he had planned to retire from one-day international in 2007 but was stopped from doing so. "I was planning to retire in 2007 after being dropped from the team but Tendulkar stopped me from doing so," said the 37-year-old.

However, Sehwag dodged the question that he had approached the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for a farewell match. "I don't want to create any controversy after my retirement. I don't want to speak on this issue," he said.

The swashbuckling batsman added that his family members were upset with his retirement. "Both my sons were upset," he said.

Asked whom he considered as the best captain he has played with, Sehwag said, "Anil Kumble is the best captain I have played with. He used to boost our confidence level."

Talking about the current Indian batting line-up (ODI), Sehwag said, "MS Dhoni should play at number 4 so that he can control the game and other players should revolve around him."

About his future, Sehwag said, "I will always be connected with this game. If I get an offer from the BCCI or any other commentary offers, I will consider it. My commentary would be straight forward, like my batting."