5 instances when Virender Sehwag's words were as outrageous as his strokes

We all know how Virender Sehwag used to bat. His style and approach to batting is something inimitable. Nobody can forget how he used to dispatch the very first ball of the match to the boundary with utter disdain. Not only while batting, the man himself was outrageous with his words too.Recently he made a jibe at former Indian coach Greg Chappell on entertainment website VIUs show What the duck. Sehwag in his quintessential manner told the host Vikram Sathaye, His cricketing knowledge - superb. Man-management bilkul zero. Sehwag-management total flop.There are other instances also when Sehwag showed his cheeky side while speaking. Let's have a look at 5 such instances:

#1 Sehwag on the Australian tour

Sehwag took a jibe at skipper Dhoni

During India’s abysmal tour down under in 2012, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and the team management had controversially opted for a rotation policy in which only two among the three seniors – Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag – would play a match, with a change in combinations throughout the series.

Dhoni backed this decision by saying that he wanted to give the youngsters the opportunity to express themselves. Dhoni also said that the team would lose out on about 20 runs in the field if all three seniors are played together.

When Dhoni was banned for a game in the series, Sehwag led the side and took an acrobatic catch in the game against Sri Lanka. So when he was asked about Dhoni’s opinion about the slowness of the seniors on the field, Sehwag replied,”Have you seen my catch? MS [Dhoni] will come for the next match; you can ask him the question.”

He surely hit that one for a massive ‘six’.

#2 Sehwag on spinners

Sehwag stood tall and scored a magnificent 201 when others fell pray to the guile of Mendis

When India’s star opener was asked about how he was the only Indian batsman who dominated Sri Lanka’s mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis during the tour of Sri Lanka in 2008, Sehwag nonchalantly said,

”Bhaisaab, spinner ko spinner batsmen banata hein! Agar use aap ball spin hi naa karne do, aur pehli hi over me use bahar pheink do, who zindagi bhar spin nahi karenga!” [A spinner is made by batsmen. If the batsman does not allow the ball to spin and throw him out of the ground, he will not spin the ball all his life!] Sehwag then also added that he never considered a spinner a bowler.

The spectators also witnessed numerous glimpses of Sehwag’s attitude towards the spinners during his playing days. One famous incident has to be the one when he hit Pakistan’s premier off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq for a six when he was batting on 294 and completed a triple hundred.

#3 Sehwag on Boycott

When the two great openers had a go at each other

The legendary England opener Geoffrey Boycott made some snide comments about Sehwag, “He is talented, very talented, but brainless.”

Sehwag retorted by saying, “Boycott can say what he wants. He once batted the whole day and hit just one four.” These two legendary openers had completely different approach to batting. The veteran Boycott was more concerned about the footwork and technique, while on the other hand Sehwag believed in scoring runs at a brisk rate.

It surely was an epic reply considering the fact that Boycott was known for his slow-batting during his playing days.

#4 Sehwag on Bangladesh

Sehwag literally dismissed the idea of a probable Bangladesh surprise in tests

On the eve of the first Test between India and Bangladesh at Chittagong in 2010, Sehwag addressed a press conference and his words left everyone in utter disbelief.

When he was asked a general question about Bangladesh’s chances to surprise India, Sehwag answered, “No. They can’t beat us in Test matches. They can surprise you in ODIs, but not in Tests because they can’t take 20 Indian wickets. Bangladesh can’t. They are an ordinary side.”

You are always advised to rest your opponents, irrespective of their strengths and weaknesses. Sehwag is surely not the one who conforms to the idea.

#5 Sehwag on the World Cup win

Sehwag believed India had a very strong team when Dhoni took over the charge

Sehwag can effortlessly say what others can’t. This surely is an example of that. He is not someone who is afraid of giving controversial statements. It’s quite natural for a man like him who doesn’t even think for a second to hit a six while standing on 294.

When asked to give an opinion about Dhoni’s captaincy, Sehwag casually said, “I don’t know what others feel. But by the time Dhoni took over, India already had a very strong team. So his captaincy alone didn’t win World Cup for India. We had a very strong team already so we won the World Cups — T20 and World Cup. If you have a good team, you win. It’s simple.”

With Sehwag set to don the commentator’s hat for the first time in the upcoming T20 World Cup, we can expect some more fireworks from the man himself. Albeit not with his bat, but with his words.