Virender Sehwag reveals mental challenge of speaking English early in his career

Former Indian cricket team captain and BCCI President, Sourav Ganguly, along with former India opening batsman Virender Sehwag took part as guests on the current season of the popular quiz show Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC), hosted by eminent Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan.

The veteran cricketers brought honour to the quiz show on Friday, September 3, for a philanthropic cause as the amount of money that they won was donated for charity purposes.

Ganguly, Sehwag talk mental health issues

The Prince of Kolkata along with his counterpart, Veeru kick-started the initial rounds with all grandeur by replying to all the questions. The duo meanwhile, had responded to a query related to Tennis star Naomi Osaka, who had backed off from the French Open citing mental health. 

The question by Amitabh Bachchan related to mental health led to a discussion among the trio. The BCCI chief swiftly responded to the question stating that players have to perform under a lot of pressure and now that now inhabiting and playing under the bio-bubbles has certainly become difficult.

Notably, English international cricketer and all-rounder, Ben Stokes had stepped down from the five-match Test series between England and India, citing mental health concerns. BCCI President, Ganguly, presented the case of the English player and stated that mental wellbeing during the COVID pandemic has become an issue to be handled with utmost care.

Sehwag shares experience while speaking English 

The Sultan of Multan, Virender Sehwag expressed his challenges while conversing in English with his Indian teammates during his early days in international cricket. The Nawab of Najafgarh stated that he had even urged Ravi Shastri to speak in Hindi when Shastri was interviewing him for the first time. However, he had to speak in English as Shastri questioned him in English.

It should be mentioned here that during his career of playing the sport, Sehwag mastered himself in the foreign language and later, for a brief period, took up the microphone for English commentary.

The former India opening batsman is currently giving commentary in the ongoing England vs India Test series. Since his retirement, Sehwag has taken hold of the microphone, proving himself as one of the leading commentators in Hindi.

(Picture by Virender Sehwag Instagram)