Virender Sehwag has said that he has returned to the Indian team with Anil Kumble.
Virender Sehwag, India's all-time leading scorer, is the only Indian to score three wickets in a Test match. In a recent interview, he said that his cricketing career would have ended in 2007 and that Anil Kumble had rejoined the team.
Speaking on the occasion, Sehwag said, "Suddenly, I realised I was not part of the Test side; it hurt. I would have ended with 10,000+ Test runs had I not been dropped for that period.
It was only after Anil Kumble became the captain that my cricket career got a boost. I was not given a chance in the first 2 Tests of the Australian tour. The training match was played before the 3rd Test. Speaking to me at the time, Kumble said, "Score a 50 in this match, and you will be picked for the match in Perth."
Sehwag scored a century in that match and got a chance in the Perth Test. In the ensuing Adelaide Test, Sehwag saved 63 in the first innings and 151 in the second innings.
Commenting on this, Sehwag said, "Those 60 runs were the toughest I scored in my life. I was playing to repay the faith Anil Bhai put in me. I did not want anyone to question him for bringing me to Australia. I was focused on the striker's end; on the other end, I spoke to the umpire, humming my favourite songs. The pressure was gone. If Anil Bhai had not been the captain, the tour would have discontinued, and probably Harbhajan Singh's career would have ended too."