Last Update: June 03, 2023, 7:26 PM IST
Virender Sehwag with Team India at the 2007 Cricket World Cup (AFP)
Virender Sehwag said he locked himself in his hotel room after India crashed out in the group stage of the 2007 Cricket World Cup
In a recent interview, Virender Sehwag recalled how he locked himself in his hotel room after India’s disappointing exit from the 2007 Cricket World Cup.
The Indian men’s cricket team suffered a shock defeat to Bangladesh in their opening match of the tournament, bounced back with a convincing win over Bermuda, but another defeat for Sri Lanka meant a group-stage exit.
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“The 2007 World Cup hurt more. Because in 2007 our team was the best team in the world. If you are looking for a better team on paper, you will not find it before or after the World Cup. In the last edition we played the final, in the next edition we won the World Cup, but this team was not there. So it hurt the most because we lost 2 of our 3 matches. And we got out,” Sehwag told Gaurav Kapur on YouTube show ‘Breakfast with Champions’.
“You know what hurt more, everyone thought India would go through to the next round, and then when the league stage ended, there was a 2-day break. And then we had to travel. But since we lost, we didn’t have tickets. And we had to wait for 2 more days in Trinidad and Tobago. We had no work, no practice, nothing to do.
“There was no room-service guy in my room, didn’t call for housekeeping. I didn’t even come out of my room. I had a friend in America, from whom I got ‘Prison Break’. I watched the show for 2 whole days. The next two days, I looked it up and got it done. I didn’t see anyone’s face,” he said.
In the very next edition, India won the title at home in 2011. Sehwag credited Gary Kirsten for steering the team to consider every ODI as a knockout since he took charge in 2008.
“In the 2011 World Cup, everyone was telling us to win the World Cup, everyone, from waiters in hotels to people at the airport. There were so many expectations and so much pressure. Credit goes to Gary Kirsten,” Sehwag said.
“When he got into the 2011 World Cup final in 2008, he told us to play every one-day match like a knockout game. When the World Cup came, our mindset was like this. We played the quarter-finals and then we didn’t feel it was a knockout match.”
