"Should a player who has played 12 - 13 years for his country deserve a farewell match"

FORMER INDIA OPENER Virender Sehwag has said that the sadness of being 'deprived of a farewell game shall always remain' in his mind. 

The explosive batsman recently called time on an illustrious international career that spanned over a decade. But it seems the Delhi cricketer is unhappy with the treatment meted out to him by the selectors.

"Had the selectors told me that they were going to drop me, I could have requested them to allow me to play my last Test in Delhi and then announce my retirement, but they did not give me that opportunity.

"A sort of sadness shall always remain in my mind that I was not allowed to retire while playing, but anyway, it's all a part of life for a sportsman, who, while playing, never realises when he should retire, but he starts thinking about it when he is dropped," Sehwag told India TV's show Aap Ki Adalat.

Sehwag remains the only Indian to have scored two triple hundreds in Test cricket. He has scored 23 Test centuries and 15 ODI hundreds.

"I would like to ask: Should not a player who has played 12 to 13 years for his country, deserve a farewell match?"

Though, the BCCI could be planning a farewell Test for Sehwag in the fourth and final Test match between India and South Africa to be played at the cricketer's homeground, the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in New Delhi. 

"If that is so, it will be good. If the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) cannot organise, at least Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) should do. It's not a question of me alone, every player who retires should get a farewell."

Sehwag, who is not known to mince his words, said that there should be a fixed criteria for selecting/dropping players, senior or junior. 

"If a player fails to perform in four or five consecutive matches, he should be dropped irrespective of whether he is a senior or a junior player," he said.

The Nawab of Najafgarh also added,

"Had India played two more Test series against Pakistan, I could have completed 10,000 Test runs. I have made 8,586 Test runs. We stopped playing home series or away series against Pakistan since 2006. If you see my batting averages particularly against Pakistan, you will find my batting averages between 90 and 100."

TFG NEWSLETTER: Exclusive and Stimulating articles delivered Free into your Inbox every day! Subscribe to TFG TIMEs