Virender Sehwag denies retirement rumours - but does it mean anything?

Sehwag can be immensely proud of his international career

Confusion prevails over Virender Sehwag’s status as an international player with reports initially emerging that the swashbuckling batsman was set to announce his retirement across all formats of international cricket before Sehwag himself came out with a statement denying the reports.

The news of Sehwag’s ‘retirement’ was reported after Sehwag signed up for the Masters Champions League (MCL) set to be played in February next year. The MCL rules clearly state that only retired players can feature in the tournament. So in all probability, Sehwag would have to officially announce his retirement from international cricket within the next three to four months should he have a chance to feature in the tournament.

Following the hullabaloo generated in the aftermath of reports that Sehwag had brought down curtains on his international career, with eminent cricket commentators like Harsha Bhogle and Aakash Chopra paying their tributes to Sehwag on social media, the player himself has come out and denied the reports but added that he would be clearing the air in the coming days and has signed up for an exclusive interview with the BBC on Tuesday.

That day would be October 20 and Sehwag will be turning 37. Too late for an international comeback one would have to presume especially considering the fact that his last match for India was more than two-and-a-half-years ago.

Only last week, Sehwag’s long-time teammate Zaheer Khan announced his retirement from international cricket with immediate effect and a similar announcement by Sehwag was certainly on the cards. Having decided to leave his home state Delhi and move to neighbouring Haryana from the 2015/16 Ranji Trophy season, the signs have been evident that Sehwag is looking to play out the remainder of his career in a less high-profile environment.

India currently have a problem-of-plenty with regards to opening batsmen in all formats with the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Murali Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul and even Cheteshwar Pujara laying a claim. Even the chances of Gautam Gambhir – three years younger to Sehwag, having comparatively better performances to his name over the past few years and clearly in better shape – making a comeback are all but over.

Sehwag’s performances in the IPL for Kings XI Punjab has been poor to say the least bar a few knocks and even though he played well against his old side in his last Ranji outing, his performances have been too little too late to warrant a comeback.

The fact that Sehwag signed up for the MCL in the first place is proof enough that he also knows that a comeback is not possible now and that he has made the decision to bring down curtains on his international career. One can only assume that Sehwag was perhaps annoyed by the manner in which the news filtered out, but it would come as no surprise should Sehwag confirm his retirement within the next few days.