Tendulkar, my idol

Virender Sehwag once said the only difference between him and Tendulkar was in their bank balance. But now he says that was said in jest and he can’t be half as good as his idol. In an interview with PTI, Sehwag talks about his admiration for Tendulkar, his face-offs with Shoaib Akhtar and his initial reluctance to blitz his way to a 69-ball 83 in the record chase in Chennai.

On the contrary, I didn’t want to hit those fours. I kept telling Gautam (Gambhir) that I wouldn’t hit fours. But they kept bowling short and I kept square-cutting. And they all were fours. Out of the first eight fours, six were from square-cuts. Gautam just told me to bat as I normally do. But I really didn’t want to hit fours on the fourth evening!