It would be an understatement to state that former India opener Virender Sehwag enjoyed playing against Pakistan. The right-hander scored 1276 runs at an astonishing 91.14 apiece in 9 Tests against them.
His first triple century at Multan—which was also the first for any Indian batter—came against Pakistan. Sehwag scored 309 while Sachin Tendulkar stayed unbeaten on 194 as India declared on 675/5 in the first innings.
The hosts were bundled out for 407 in the first innings and were made to follow on. They scored 216 in the second innings, which resulted in a 52-run victory for the team led by Rahul Dravid in the absence of injured Sourav Ganguly.
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The legendary opener recalled his most favorite knock against Pakistan which in many ways set his Test career up.
"The 309-run knock at Multan is my favorite because no one expected that a player like Sehwag, an opener could score a triple century. People were saying...the media used to write, the commentators used to say that Sehwag is not a Test player, he cannot make big runs," Sehwag said in a video, which also features Shoaib Akhtar, uploaded by Star Sports on YouTube.
"The good thing about that innings was that the previous four innings did not go well for me, which happened in the ODIs against Pakistan. I had this feeling that if I did not score runs even in the Test series, I may get dropped. So, this time, if I get the start, like score 30-40, I have to convert it into big runs. Then I got a good start in Multan."
He acknowledged that initially facing the likes of Akhtar and Mohammad Sami who were bowling at express pace early in his innings had proved beneficial for him.
"I had this fear that the ball is new, the wicket is fresh. Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami were bowling really fast - over 145kmph. Shoaib was bowling around 155 kph and Sami was constantly clocking 145. But once both the spells got over, it became easier for me because when the third pacer Shabbir Ahmed and Abdul Razzaq came, it felt like I was facing spinners," Sehwag said.
"So, once I played out that 12-over spell from Shoaib and Sami, my confidence peaked," he added. "The 254, which I scored in Lahore was special as the wicket was good."
(STAR SPORTS INPUTS)
