Virender Sehwag used to bring out his best against Pakistan. Out of the all the memorable innings that he played against Pakistan, the triple century that he scored in Multan in 2004 was the first occasion when an Indian batter scored a 300-plus score in Tests. Sehwag scored 309 while Sachin Tendulkar stayed unbeaten on 194 as India declared on 675/5 in the first innings. Pakistan made 407 in the first innings and were made to follow on. They made 216 in the second innings as India win by an innings and 52 runs.
Talking about his most favourite memory from an India-Pakistan clash, Sehwag said. “The 309-run knock at Multan is my favourite, 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 has 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.”
Sehwag admitted that facing the likes of Akhtar and Mohammad Sami initially helped him while facing other Pakistan pacers. “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.”
