Viru wants to play more Tests

by prasad on September 2, 2009

The Delhi dasher Virender Sehwag might be known for being a super-fast player with big shots but his heart lies in Test cricket. He prefers to play Tests and ODIs more than the shortest  form of the game that has taken the cricket world by storm.

“Personally I would like to play more Tests and ODIs than  T20 games which I know have become extremely popular. I would  like to play at least eight to 10 Tests in a year,” Sehwag  said in Mumbai to announce the list of nominees for this year’s LG-ICC annual awards.

“The 20-20 game is big and in future may be everything  but I would like to play more Tests and ODIs. The message I  would like to give to the ICC is to introduce a World  Championship of Tests. Every cricketer would like to play Tests against every other country and perform well. Test cricket is the true  test (of a cricketers’ calibre),” he said.

Sehwag, one of the nominees for the ODI Player of the  year award, welcomed the idea of the ICC awards, which he felt  give the cricketers an added incentive to do well and  described them as the “Oscars of cricket”. “I am hopeful this year also I can win an award. It’s an added incentive to every cricketer to be recognised for his  performances and be a part of the World XI like I was last  year,” Sehwag said.

Sehwag, who is recovering from a shoulder injury sustained during the May-June IPL in South Africa, expressed the hope he would be fit for the Champions T20 Challenge where he would represent Delhi Daredevils if fit. “I’m hoping to be fit for the Champions League,” said  Sehwag who is to miss the short tour to Sri Lanka for the  tri-series starting on September 10 as well as the ICC  Champions Trophy.

Sehwag also said he was not against the ICC’s  WADA-compliant drug-testing programme but was only  apprehensive about the “Whereabouts” clause of the Anti-Doping  Code.

“We don’t want to disclose our programme (in advance),  but we are ready to be tested anywhere and any time,” he said.

The International Cricket Council Chief Executive Haroon  Lorgat, who shared the dias with Sehwag, said the issue over  the controversial clause would be sorted out amicably with the  Cricket Board.

“We are in touch with the BCCI and all other cricketers  and I’m confident we will find a practical solution. All of us  want a clean and drug-free sport,” Lorgat said.

Some top Indian cricketers, including captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and champion batsman Sachin Tendulkar, have raised  objections to the specific clause that makes it mandatory for  them to inform their daily programme three months in advance  to the drug-testing authorities.

Lorgat also backed the 50-over game and said it would  remain the format at the international level even though  England and Wales Board has scrapped it and changed it to a  40-over-a-side game for its domestic cricket.

It is quite interesting to note that more and more cricketers back Test cricket even at the cost of ODIs being given a step-motherly treatment. Long live Test cricket!

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