Jhajhar (Haryana): All eyes will be on Virender Sehwag when the veteran star goes under the hammer for the IPL 7 auctions on Wednesday but the out-of-favour opener is not at all bothered about what kind of price he will command from the franchises.
Is he tense about the auction ? Sehwag answered in the manner he bats.
“You mean tensed about how much money I will get,” he said with a wry smile.
“I have earned enough money and fame from the game to only think about financial aspects. I am not at all tensed about the auction or the price at which I will be bought. For me, what is important is to play cricket and IPL gives me a chance to do so,” Sehwag told PTI during an interaction at a residential academic institution.
On whether he still enjoys the game, pat came the reply, “Of course, I am enjoying playing cricket. That’s the reason that I have played a full season of Ranji Trophy cricket. I can tell you that after playing international cricket for so many years, it is very very difficult to come back and grind it out in domestic arena if you don’t have love for the game.”
The ‘Nawab of Najafgarh’ then cited an example of how he played in the DY Patil T20 tournament just to keep himself match fit.
“I went to Mumbai to play in the DY Patil T20 for a team. We lost in the quarterfinals or else I might have got to play an additional couple of matches (semifinal and final). Now why did I got there to play? Because I love the game and the hunger is still there.”
For someone whose game depended a lot on hand-eye coordination, there was a lot of speculation regarding Sehwag’s eyesight once he started wearing spectacles at the start of the last season.
“Well, Daniel Vettori has played all his life wearing spectacles and no one has questioned it. I wore spectacles because I was advised by the doctor. I was told that I had cylindrical power and if I wear glasses, it will only improve my eyesight and hence be helpful for my game. Had I not worn spectacles, I might have had headaches,” Sehwag said.
The school, Sehwag’s dream project has a beautiful cricket ground where Haryana’s U-16 and U-19 teams play their board matches but he has some space where he wants to develop state of the art facility like the National Cricket Academy.
“Just like we use the facilities at the NCA, if I can have a tie-up with a corporate organization who do a lot of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities, then I will have a full NCA-like structure with gym and other facilities. Right now, I don’t have that much funds,” Sehwag said. (PTI)