Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag said that Rishabh Pant has to prove himself in Test cricket and play more than 100 matches in the purest form of the game if he wants to be remembered as a cricketer.

He feels if Pant only plays white-ball cricket, then no one would remember him as much. While shorter formats have been lucrative and offer instant gratification, Sehwag feels 99% of the players in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) would want to play Test cricket.

Virat Kohli understands the value of Test cricket, and that’s why he wants to play more and more Tests.

Read Also: Rishabh Pant cheated of Rs 1.63 crore by Haryana cricketer Mrinank Singh

Virender Sehwag said in an episode of Home of Heroes on Sports18: “If he goes on to play 100+ Tests, his name would be etched in the history books forever. Only 11 Indian cricketers have achieved this feat, and everyone can recall those 11 names.”

He continued, “Why does Virat Kohli emphasize so much on playing Tests? He knows that if he plays 100-150 or even 200 Tests, he will be immortalized in the record books. In my humble opinion, Test cricket is the ultimate cricket.”

Virender Sehwag’s reverence for Test cricket is not surprising, as, in a career from 1999 to 2014, Sehwag compiled 8586 runs in Tests averaging 49.34 at an astonishing strike rate of 82.23 and 8273 in ODIs at 35.05 with a strike rate of 104.33.

Speaking about his fondness for hitting boundaries on the first ball, Sehwag said: “Many, including Tendulkar, told me that I planned to hit the first ball to the fence. But I never did.”

He signed off by saying, “I would be prepared to hit the first ball thinking it would more often be a loosener or a warm-up delivery.”