Zitat des Tages von Virender Sehwag:
I never thought of breaking a record. The only ambition I had was to become the fastest century maker for India, which I did when I broke Azharuddin's record.
I have a gym at home where I do weight training as well as cardio. I love doing bench press but cannot share information on how much weight I lift. I also practise Yoga. My guru Sadhguru taught me different kriyas like Surya Namaskar, which I do for my personal well being.
A sort of sadness shall always remain in my mind that I was not allowed to retire while playing, but anyway, it's all a part of life for a sportsman who, while playing, never realises when he should retire, but he starts thinking about it when he is dropped.
As a cricketer, everybody has a dream to play for your country.
Every player has his own mantra of working on his physique.
Playing for India was a memorable journey, and I tried to make it more memorable for my team mates and the Indian cricket fans. I believe that I was reasonably successful in doing so.
Coach should be a friend, not a coach. And at international level, all you need is a friend who can motivate you. Technique doesn't matter.
My shot selection has to be good to score big runs.
It doesn't matter whether you move your feet or not; if your head is still and body is in balance, you can score lots of runs. This I learned from Tendulkar.
No doubt, if you go through records, Dhoni is India's best captain to date. Beating Sourav Ganguly, he won the Tests, ODIs, and T20s, won both the World Cups. Nobody can deny that, but to give credit to a single person is not good; others should also get credit for winning the Cups.
There are days when you make runs, and there will be a dry spell. Like in business, every year you don't make profits.
We don't need to run 5-6 kms, even in a Test match.
Sometimes, you just need to get out of the game and should do things which you want to do in life and like.
I used to prepare in advance on how the bowler is going to bowl, whether is he going to bowl an outswinger or an inswinger? I used to watch the videos of the bowler and used to prepare in advance.
When I grew up, I tried to score off every ball, be it a 10-over-match, a 20-over, or even a Test match. If I stay in the wicket for, say, about 30 minutes, I want to make the most of it and score maximum runs possible. You never know when you get out; try to score as much possible before that.
I always tell myself to bat the full day, and if there is a ball to be hit, just hit it.
Like life, the beauty of sports is that no two periods are identical.
I love to score runs rather than defending or leaving the ball. That is an important aspect of my batting: I don't want to waste balls in any form of the game.
If a player fails to perform in four or five consecutive matches, he should be dropped irrespective of whether he is a senior or a junior player.
I thought I could have breached Brian Lara's 400 runs. When I scored 319, I was unbeaten at 309 but then got out. So I think I could have reached that mark, but unfortunately, I missed it.
Fitness has nothing to do with age.
Does it make a difference if I score 8000 or 10,000 runs in Test cricket? Not in anybody's life.
I am the superstitious kind: I never praise a shot because I fear the moment I do so, the batsman gets out.
I batted with contact lenses in the IPL while playing for Delhi Daredevils. I wasn't picking the ball early. So I went back to the glasses.
You don't think of these things when you play. When you retire, you look back and see that my Test average outside Asia is 40, and it is 49 overall. If I can change something, I'd like to change that average outside Asia. I tried as hard as I could outside Asia, but I couldn't do that.
When I was growing up, I played a lot of ten- and 12-over games, and I would bat in the middle order. I got only ten-odd balls to face, and I tried to score as much as I could. I applied the same approach in domestic and international cricket, and people were appreciating my strike rate being more than 80 or 90 in Test cricket.
During Rahul Dravid's captaincy, Dhoni got the role of a finisher. He got out a couple of times playing a bad shot, and he was also reprimanded by Dravid during one instance. But from that instance, he completely changed his approach and became a very good finisher.
I have matured in my shot selection but will not discard my style. I don't believe in wasting balls.
It doesn't matter if you have one billion rupees in your bank account or one rupee. This is one life you get, and you'd rather spend it enjoying whatever you have, rather than thinking, 'Oh, I should have scored seven more runs, or I should get more money.'
I have never hidden my injury before, or fitness problems. Even my shoulder operation was planned after consulting the then coach Gary Kirsten and skipper MS Dhoni.
When you start the game, coaches will tell you to do stuff in a particular way, and kids do that. But the moment you start first-class cricket, the coach needs to tell you, 'Try this, try that,' instead of, 'Do this, do that.' If you feel comfortable, you can take it; otherwise, leave it.
My father was a farmer, and we have had some farming land in Haryana. Maybe I would have followed his footsteps and become a farmer.
There has been the negative impact of spot-fixing and match-fixing, but it is the individual player's responsibility to look after that because if a player wants to do that, it is difficult to stop him. It is the individual player's responsibility to play fairly.
Australia always gives a tough fight, and that's why every player wants to perform against Australia. When you perform against Australia, England, and South Africa, you automatically earn more respect.
April 2nd is a memorable moment of my cricketing career.
When I was a kid, my first dream was to play Test matches, and the second one was to play 100 Test matches because there are very few people who have played 100 Tests for India.